Parallel Processing
by MintyFeet
Summary: The year is 460 Freeport. The Systems Alliance, descendant of the Frontier Militia, finds itself confronted with First Contact; in the midst of all this, Pilot Jane Shepard and Titan KN must survive in an alien galaxy. [This story is no longer being updated, and is being maintained as an archive. Please read the reboot, Parallel Instances, if you're new to this story. Thanks!]
1. ARC 1 - PROLOGUE: CADET

**ARC I: PROLOGUE**

 **"CADET"**

 **PILOT SCHOOL [LOCATION CLASSIFIED]**

 **October 9th, 460 Freeport**

She shut her eyes.

Word scrolled on the bottom left of her vision:

 _Battle of Verdun - France - Earth - Core Systems_

 _Objectives:_

 _1\. Survive._

 _Weapons:_

 _Lebel Rifle: Bolt action, 8 round tube magazine. Attachments: bayonet._

 _Shovel_

 _Equipment:_

 _None_

The smell was the first thing that she noticed; it was nothing like any battle she'd ever been in.

The next thing was the noise. She'd been in firefights without aural dampeners before, but the guns sounded different. Wrong.

She opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings: some sort of trench, cut into the earth; nothing but barbed wire and grey skies as far as the eye could see. She looked down and found herself wearing some sort of fancy suit, as far as she could tell. Two others were in the trench with her- both nodded, and the three of them immediately began checking their weapons.

Joker's lights flashed red, and he groaned as he began thumbing rounds into his rifle. "What the fuck are we wearing? This shit doesn't even have webbing!" He swore under his breath as he began checking his pouches, and stopped to open one, showing it to the others. "Look. Loose ammo. Kill me now."

Lee Riley, on her left, shrugged. "Hey. At least we get a gun for this one." She snorted as she shouldered her rifle and mimed working the bolt a few times. "Besides. Look at these suckers," she said, holding up one of the cartridges. "Gotta be half-decent."

"Sure, but tube-loading with only eight rounds?" Jane held up her shovel and waggled it around. "Gotta say, I've never fought with a shovel before, but I get the feeling we're going to be learning real q-"

She was cut off as a whistle sounded and distant explosions sounded. "Down! Down," she shouted, as the trio dived into the muddy trench. Moments later, explosions began to go off all around them- and they suddenly ceased as a roar went up. The group snapped back up and peered over the trench wall as a horde- and it was a horde- of soldiers began running towards the trench, rifles raised.

"Light'em up," Joker said.

The trio began firing with practiced precision, every round of 8mm Lebel finding its mark- more often than not in the head of an enemy soldier. They fired quickly and reloaded faster, wordlessly prioritizing the soldiers who weren't bogged down in the mazes of barbed wire and mud. Within a minute or two, however, the soldiers crossed the area beyond the trench and began to flood in. Jane simply wheeled around, wielding her rifle's bayonet like a pike, and managed to kill a few soldiers before someone behind her managed a solid hit. She dropped her rifle, ducked underneath an incoming blow and unslung her shovel, jamming it point-first into a soldier's face. Another rushed her with a knife, and with a sickening squelch she yanked the shovel free and swung it into the oncoming man's leg, dodged an incoming punch, grabbed a knife from a leg holster on the man she downed and jammed it into his throat. Then, a gunshot, and her vision went dark.

White words on a black background.

 _Objective failed._

 _Tally: 36 kills / 1 death / 5 assists_

 _Stand by for eject._

She opened her eyes, panting and sweating as the sim-stim high wore off, to find herself surrounded by darkness. Jane winced as there was a hissing noise and light flooded back into her sim pod as the doors opened. Somebody stood over the pod's doors, their helmet glowing brightly as it stared at her.

"Jane Shepard." The voice was male. Rough.

"Pilot," Shepard managed to croak.

"Not bad for your final exam," the man said, nodding. "Your friends will be out in a moment."

She licked her parched lips. "Pass?"

The man patted the side of the sim pod. "You're goddamn right. Welcome to Pilot School."

Jane tried to shout with joy, and instead let out a quiet hiss and blacked out.

She came to, and found herself in an infirmary, wearing a hospital gown and laying in bed. A medic standing next to the bed nodded at her as she opened her eyes. "Ah, you're awake. Last one from your creche- stims knocked you out pretty good. New uniform's in the crate at your feet." He slapped a patch on her arm, and got up to leave. "Refresh should kick in soon- get changed, leave your gown in the crate, head out the door-" he pointed at the lone exit- "and you'll know what to do. Best of luck.

She watched the man exit, and looked around to find six beds, all empty. Groaning, she managed to get out of bed, rubbing gingerly at the patch on her arm as her muscles screamed at her to stay in the bed. She fought through it, knelt down at the foot of the bed and opened the crate to find a simple uniform: all-green, a t-shirt and padded pants. She held up the shirt, and grinned as she read the words on the front:

Jane Shepard

Cadet Pilot

She threw off her hospital gown, stuffed it into the crate, and slipped into the uniform. She slammed the crate shut and walked as fast as she could- running was out of the question- out of the infirmary and into a featureless hallway that lead straight to another door. She opened it and found herself looking into an empty hangar, where a crowd of other cadets were milling about, chattering excitedly. She found Joker and Lee and made her way over to them; Joker flashed his lights at her. "Over here!"

Jane ambled over and high fived Joker and Lee. "Hey, cadet."

Lee grinned. "Hey, cadet."

Joker shook his head. "Nah. It's weird if I do it. Took you long enough to show up. Have a good nap?"

"Fuck off, Joker. You don't get tired- you don't get to talk."

Lee grinned. "Hey, princess, meatbag here got up way before you did- so did everyone else."

"Just because the sim-stims fuck me up doesn't mean you gotta rub it in."

"Oh, sure, that's wh- oh, shit. Is that..."

A set of doors opposite the one Jane had entered from swung open as the helmeted man from before walked in, taking in the crowd. The cadets stopped, snapped to attention and saluted.

"Oh, calm the fuck down, cadets," the man said as he stopped a few feet in front of the crowd. "Take a seat, stand, whatever. Get comfy. But also shut up."

Jane happily sunk to the floor of the hangar, thankful for the padded pants.

The man squatted down and removed his helmet to reveal a visage with more scar and burns than face. "Alright. First things first-"

-"holy shit, you're Zaeed," somebody in the crowd shouted.

"Fucking hell, I just said to shut up." He clipped the helmet to his waist and stared at the crowd. "Who fucking said that?" There was a moment of silence before somebody stepped forward; the woman saluted, visibly uncomfortable. "Name, please."

"Uh, Lance Corp-"

"- you're a Cadet, dipshit-"

"-uh, oh, sorry sir, Cadet Pilot Ashley Williams. Sir."

"Alright. Look, I'm not gonna chew you out. This is Pilot School. You're here to learn. I'm not gonna treat you like shit like they do in boot. That's camp. This is school. I do expect you to listen. That means when I tell you to shut up, you shut the fuck up. Got it?"

"Yes, sir. Got it. Sir."

"Great. Stop saluting, go back to where you were before." Zaeed watched as Ashley rejoined the crowd sheepishly, and waited until she was seated. "Alright. I'm Zaeed Massani, yes. My job is to teach you kids how to be a Pilot, capital P. All of you passed the induction program with flying colours, and before you get too cocky, keep in mind that if you hadn't passed with flying colours, you wouldn't be here. Clear?"

The crowd murmured in assent and nodded.

"Good. So. Let's lay out some ground rules. You will listen to what I say. You will follow my orders. If you have a problem with an order, say so. You will treat your fellow cadets with the utmost respect. In fact, you will treat everyone of your colleagues, whether they are your superior or your inferior, with the utmost respect. You will uphold the reputation of the Pilot name. You will put in your best work, every day, from this point on. In return, I promise you that you WILL be a Pilot. If you follow those rules, I will make you- all of you- Pilots. In the history of this program, nobody has washed out. I do not intend to stop that tradition."

Zaeed stood up, and turned his back on the crowd. There was a silence, and suddenly Zaeed put his helmet back on and began to speak, his voice distorted by the helmet's filter.

"I am a Pilot. I am one with my Titan. I will uphold the mission. I will protect my Titan. For the Alliance, with my Titan by my side, I serve, unto and beyond death." He turned around as one of the walls of the hangar swung open and a Titan stomped into the room, and knelt beside Zaeed.

"I am JE-Two-Kilo-One-Seven-Four, JESSIE," intoned an accented female voice. "I am a Titan. I am one with my Pilot. I will uphold the mission. I will protect my pilot. For the Alliance, with my Pilot by my side, I serve, unto and beyond death."

Zaeed nodded to the Titan; it opened its hatch and in a single fluid motion, scooped Zaeed inside. The hatch hissed shut, and the Titan stood up, and began to walk towards the opening in the hangar walls. "Follow me, cadets," Zaeed said over the loudspeaker. "Before you do anything, before I teach you anything- you can't be a Pilot without a Titan."

The cadets followed behind Zaeed and Jessie to find a long row of Titans, each one hooked into a service bay with charging cables snaking out of their backs. Jessie's top hatch popped open, and Zaeed swung onto the top of Jessie's head and waved at the Titans. "Oi! Cut the chatter!" The Titans all looked up at once, optics scanning the cadets trailing behind Jessie. One of them waved.

"Cadets! May I introduce you to your Olympians. You've all been matched to one already- you can thank our researchers for that. Think of this as an occasion, cadets- you're meeting your lifelong, and post-life partners, each one matched out of the trillions upon trillions of AI in the Alliance. Just. For. You." Zaeed wheeled around, still sitting on Jessie's head, to face the cadets. "'Aint that sweet."

"Please don't be perturbed by the ramblings of this old meatbag. He's old and gets grumpy sometimes," Jessie said with audible dryness. "Be nice to the cadets, Pilot Zaeed."

"They don't pay me to be nice."

"Actually, part of your contract stipulates-"

"-oh, shut up. Alright, Cadets! I've got you organized by creche, so listen up! Creche one- Leng, Rizzi, Vega, you're in bays two, seventeen, nine. Creche two..." Zaeed continued to rattle off names and bay numbers, finally arriving at Jane's. "Creche twenty- Joker, Riley, Shepard, bays one, twenty-four, seven. Go meet your Olympian, chat for a few minutes. Briefing in five. Move it."

Shepard grinned at Lee and high-fived Joker, then took off at a brisk walk towards bay seven. The Titan there gave a thumbs up to her as she approached, knelt down, and popped open its hatch. She hopped inside, and a voice with a distinct Gridiron accent piped into the cockpit. "Ah, hello there! I'm KN-Six-Delta-One-Six-Eight-Seven-Two, though perhaps you'd prefer Kenneth. Not Ken, please. That's not a name I like."

"Jane Shepard. Nice to meet you, Kenneth. I'm looking forward to being a Pilot, and to working with you."

"Same here, miss. I hope to be a mighty fine Titan, but we've got work to do before we're there. So says Pilot Massani, anyway."

Jane patted the inside of the cockpit. "Well, KN, I think we'll do just fine."

Kenneth chuckled. "Oh, I sure hope so. Pilot Massani says we're to chat, eh? Well, what's there to chat about? I'm seven years old in meat time, and my hobbies are comics and guns."

"I'm pretty sure guns, in and of themselves, aren't hobbies."

"Speaking as a machine, let me tell you, Cadet Shepard: guns are a hobby," Kenneth responded proudly. "Although I'm not yet cleared to carry one, I'm looking forward to the day we get to stomp on out and blow stuff up." KN let out a noise that sounded vaguely like a cough. "Ah, with your permission. Of course."

Jane leaned back in the seat and grinned. "You know what? I think we're going to get along just fine. Also, you mentioned you like, uh, comics?"

"Yes, Cadet Shepard. I am particularly fond of Fist of Anger and Paycheck. I'm partial to Excision, too."

"Wait a minute. Your two favourite comics are about...fighting...and pirates. I haven't heard of the last one?"

"Written in Binary, I'm afraid. It's being translated into Frontier, but, uh, there's a lot of work to be done, what with Binary being a, uh, tad more complicated than organic."

"What's it about?"

"Robot wizards."

"What."

KN made a mechanical huff. "Well more than that. It's complicated."

"Hey, I'm not judging or anything. Hell, if anyt-" Jane was cut off as Jessie rapped the floor lightly with her hands; the noise still echoed through the entire hangar.

"Oi!" Zaeed was standing on top of Jessie's head, arms crossed. "I hope you're all getting along. Actually, you'd better be getting along, or working on it. Listen up! It's 1800, on the dot right now. It's been a long day- you lot've been in the sims for what, three days straight? I know the docs give you that Refresh stuff, but there's no substitute for a proper meal and whatnot. So! Here's the deal, Cadets- from now on, you live in this hangar. If you're not training or on leave- and let me reassure you, there will be very, very little leave granted until you're actual Pilots- you'll be in here. You eat here. You sleep here. Meals will be brought in shortly- a real one, cooked and everything. The meat's not even vat-grown- don't get used to it. Bedding is also on its way, but to be frank I recommend sleeping in your Olympian, because there's going to be a lot of that in your future. Might as well get used to it now. Clean stations and toilets are on the door marked with the little shower thing. 0400 tomorrow, techs'll be coming in to oversee your neural links and prepping you for augments. Olympians, same: we'll be starting your daily core-implant backups tomorrow. After that, we start training hard and, with few exceptions, we don't stop until you are all Pilots. Clear?"


	2. 1-2: CERBERUS

**CHAPTER 2: "CERBERUS"**

 **SYSTEMS ALLIANCE LIGHT ATTACK CRUISER RAINFALL**

 **June 21st, 462 Freeport**

 _All hands, condition two. Ground troops to staging areas. Pilots, prepare for drop and await orders. Repeat, condition two. FTL exit in five minutes._

"Pop those hatches, rise and shine, Cadets!" Jessie stomped into the hangar, banging on the ceiling as she passed by each Olympian's bay. Her cockpit whirred as it opened, revealing Zaeed in full combat gear.

"Hey! Pilot! What's going on?" shouted Kai Leng from his cockpit.

"Emergency broadcast from an outpost on Iris- Cerberus attack. FOB Graveyard reports two Hammonds in low orbit, dropping pods like there's no tomorrow- hey!" Zaeed pointed at a Titan with a sealed cockpit, and Jessie rapped it with her fist. "Vega! Wake the fuck up!"

The cockpit opened a moment later. "Jesus, alright! Sorry! I heard, no need to repeat it."

"We all awake? Good! Listen up. 3rd Raiders are being pulled for boarding action on those Hammonds, so first fall goes to us. Our orders are to reinforce and defend Graveyard while the Hammonds get taken out. Gear up!"

Jane felt for the activation thought-process and flinched as the tell-tale feeling of water being poured into her skull shook any last weariness out of her.

Neural link established. Cadet Pilot to Olympian Titan KN-6D1687.

Her HUD flickered to life as she leaned back in her seat; Jane quickly flicked through her menus with practiced ease.

 _Begin armament procedure. Armament set "Harmony" engaged. Stormweaver Assault Railgun: Online. Cluster Thermite Missiles: Shield: Online. Gatecrasher Laser Core: Online._

A quick tap on a panel in the cockpit unsealed her weapon rack just outside her open cockpit; her HUD tracked them as she grabbed her weapons, and then stuffed her webbing full of ammunition.

 _G2B9-R Semi-Automatic Precision Railrifle. Charge Rifle Precision Anti-Titan Beam Projector. Smart Pistol -R Semi-Automatic Rail Handgun w/ Smart Targeting. Spray Grenades. Electronic Countermeasure Explosives._

"I'm ready," Jane said, grabbing her helmet from above the seat and sealing it onto her suit. She patted the side of the cockpit. "You ready, KN?"

"More than ready, Cadet Pilot Shepard."

All hands, condition one. FTL exit in one minute.

"Cadets! Close those cockpits and get ready to drop! You know the drill: good kills, watch each other's backs, and remember: don't be a hero, be a Pilot!"

Jane sealed her cockpit, leaned back in her seat, and took a deep breath.

All hands, condition one. FTL drops in ten.

She braced herself.

 _Five. Four. Three. Two. Mark._

There was that all-too-familiar feeling of being pulled in every direction; that strange, unending screech as time and space were ripped apart- or as Shepard's mom had put it, "the sound of telling physics to go fuck itself." Then the compression, like every piece of soft tissue in your body being smashed inwards-

 _Exiting FTL, oh my fucking RAIDERS BE ADVISED, INTEL INCORRECT! HOLY FUCK THERE'S AT LEAST TWENTY HAMMON-_

 _-GET THE FUCK OFF COMMS IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THIS SHIT! ALL HANDS, PROCEED-_

 _\- GROUND TEAMS MOVE-_

 _-DROP! DROP! DROP!-_

Jane's HUD lit up with red markers as Kenneth was loaded into the drop pod, and with a loud THUNK fired out of the ship. The pod streaked towards Iris with the rest of the Cadets; Jane tabbed through her HUD and turned on the external cameras. The LAC Rainfall and its sister ship, the LAC Moonlight were both desperately firing their weapons and what was at the very least twenty-five Cerberus ships, each one simultaneously spraying drop pods towards the planet's surface and unleashing hailstorms of fire on the two Alliance ships. For a moment, the only noise was the rattling of the drop pod as it shot towards Iris' atmosphere.

Kenneth spoke first. "Cadet Pilot Shepard."

"Yeah."

"This is...not good."

"That's an understatement. Whatever. One thing at a time. We land, we go from there."

"Agreed."

The pair waited in silence until the pod entered atmosphere and the pod's comms came back online.

"Cadets, this is Massani. Things are bad up there. Least we can do is make it easier downstairs. Just like any other combat drop, people."

Jane watched her HUD intently. Planetfall in ten. Five. Mark.

The pod exploded off of KN to reveal a scorched mountain range surrounding a destroyed airfield; FOB Graveyard's entrance was a massive complex built into the side of the mountain, overlooking the drop zone. An endless stream of Cerberus pods rained all around the airfield, each one spitting out a stream of heavily-armed spectres, before converting into automated cannons that fired at the FOB's entrance.

"Graveyard, this is Shield Actual. We've landed and will provide support, over." Zaeed's pod had barely touched the ground before Jessie burst out of it, firing a massive minigun into the enemy ranks while sprinting towards the FOB's entrance; Shepard joined him and the other cadets as they took cover behind an improvised barrier made of destroyed construction containers. A few dozen beleaguered defenders cheered as the titans joined them.

"Shield Actual, this is Graveyard. You're a sight for sore eyes. Not much to say in terms of tactics- so many of the bastards are out there, you barely have to aim. If you need resupplies, we've got a couple of loaders left that'll ferry out ammo blocks to you, but make it count- we're gonna be out of turret ammo soon."

"Copy. Cadets, you heard'em! Fire at will!"

True to Graveyard's word, there wasn't much need to aim; every salvo of missiles and every railgun round fired smashed through what looked like hundreds of the Cerberus robots, and yet more pods dropped and more spectres marched onwards. Shepard continued to fire KN's railguns, but frowned beneath her helmet. "This doesn't seem right. Cerberus has money, but this is stupid. I've never heard of them just throwing shit at people and hoping to win via attrition."

"I agree, Cadet Pilot. I have a creeping feeling in the back of my chassis. Some-"

"Shield, this is Graveyard! There's been an explosion in our sublevel armoury- reports of hostile infiltrators! We could use a pilot or two!"

"Graveyard, this is Shield Actual, I'm sending a few pilots your way! Shepard, Leng, Vega, Riley! Go!"

Shepard unslung her railgun as her cockpit opened, revealing the flaming battlefield below. "Stay safe, Kenneth."

"You too, ma'am."

The four cadets rocketed at full speed towards a small, reinforced maintenance hatch behind the main battle line, sprinted through and came to a stop in front of a line of Alliance soldiers bunkered down behind gun emplacements. The entire crowd remained at their guns, but there was a noticeable shift in their demeanour: they stood straighter and began muttering amongst themselves. One soldier left his gun emplacement and met the pilots, his helmet's front unsealing to reveal his face.

"Pilots. Glad to see you. Explosion was on basement four, stairs are on your right."

The cadets looked at each other and nodded, and with a quick shot of their jump kits were hurtling into the stairwell. Each grabbed onto the metal walls with a magnetized glove and slid down the staircase, and flung themselves into the fourth basement's exit. A series of emplaced gunners and riflemen, not unlike the one on the ground level, were several feet in front of a series of doors marked as armouries, firing wildly into a breach in the basement's wall where a steady stream of spectres made their way through. Vega ran over to the soldiers and rapped the wall next to them.

"We're here to help. Stop your firing once we're above you."

One of the gunners, still firing his emplaced gun, looked at him. "Wait, what?"

Vega's voice filtered through the cadets' helmets. "Arc run, like last month?" The three other cadets waited until Vega made his way back to them, then took off at once. All four cadets pulled small navy-blue canisters marked "ECE" from their chest rigs and tossed them into the breach, then fired themselves at a wall; Kai and Jane both went first, wallrunning up and over the soldiers' defensive line while locking their rifles to their chests and unslinging heavy weapons. Kai fired a blue-grey shockwave from a boxy ArcCaster, shorting out the spectres closest to the defensive line, while Jane's Charge Rifle first punched a fist-sized hole straight through the spectres coming through the breach, followed by its neon-orange beam screeching into the tunnel beyond. Kai and Jane both dropped from the walls into a slide on the floor, drawing sidearms with their off-hands and firing into the breach. Behind them came James and Lee, running along the walls, firing their railguns as they rocketed off the walls towards the hole; shoulder-mounted pods popped out of their armour and launched two grey discs onto each side of the breached wall. Each disc glowed for a moment, and a pair of translucent blue particle walls flashed to life, blocking both incoming fire and the horde of Spectres. The cadets paused, the four of them now all on the floor, reloaded all of their weapons, looked amongst themselves, and nodded after a moment.

One of the soldiers on the line dropped his rifle.

"Graveyard, Shield, this is Shield 6," said Lee. "Walls are up over the breach- we have a few minutes. Shield 2, 3, 6 and 9 available for tasking."

"Good work, cadets," came Zaeed's voice. "Graveyard, this is Shield Actual. Sitrep?"

"Shield Actual, this is Graveyard," responded the controller's voice nervously. "Situation above is...better than expected. LAC Rainfall is mostly unharmed, Moonlight's taken heavy damage. Scans indicated thirty-six Cerberus ships total, with fifteen still operational. Cerberus ship drops are continuing but they've slowed down significantly. Ground scans aren't perfect due to ECM, but I think we're thinning the enemy out slowly. Not much intel on the breach down below, but we're thinking they've tunneled in from somewhere."

"Ammo reserves?"

"Ten minutes of turret ammo left, but if we bust open the armouries there should be enough to last at least, uh, ten, eleven hours."

"Copy. Any idea why Cerberus is attacking?"

"Negative, Shield. Iris was mined clear ages ago- FOB was mostly just put here as a staging ground for anti-pirate operations. Today's the first we've seen of Cerberus here."

Zaeed's helmet appeared again in Jane's HUD, but was silent. It lit up a moment later. "This makes no goddamn sense. The fuck are they doing here?"

"Wall's at 70%," Kai interjected. "Orders?"

Zaeed growled angrily, then sighed. "Slow advance into the tunnels. We're gonna need the gear from the armouries- be a right pain in the ass for Graveyard's troops to haul ammo under fire. Keep those spectres back, stay within sightline of the breach. Graveyard, acknowledge."

"Acknowledged, Shield Actual. Pilots, you are free to grab whatever gear you want from the armouries. Hope it helps. Graveyard out."

"You heard'em, Cadets. Gear up and get a move on."

The cadets jogged back towards the closest armoury as the soldiers defending the breach alternated between staring at the Spectres now pounding on the particle wall and the cadets. The soldier who had dropped his rifle picked it back up, shaking his head.

"Fucking pilots, man."

The cadets jogged into one of the open armouries and waited as the security system scanned them, then watched as racks of weapons and ammunition slid out from the walls and the ground; less than a minute later, they were back in the hallway, and stacked up on each side of the breached wall. Kai tapped the now-orange particle wall, and frowned at the crowd of spectres smashing up against it.

"10%. How do you guys wanna clear this?"

"Reset the wall's IFF, break through it," Jane replied, grabbing her Charge Rifle off her back. She leaned forward and examined the breach for a second, then nodded to herself. "Mm. Breach is a good size- two across. Works perfect. Two vortex in the front, fire support in the back, swap out when the shield goes down. Two-hundred meter check-ins. If we hit branches, have the troops set up behind us." The cadets looked at one another, and nodded. "Alright. Green on ten." The top-right corner of each cadet's HUD lit up with a small countdown timer.

"Three. Two. One. Breach." Jane fell into a kneeling position and fired her charge rifle into the shield, which flared red then shattered as the rifle's orange beam punched straight through. Still kneeling, she clamped the charge rifle to her chest rig, unslung her rifle and moved into the breech with Kai next to her. The two of them moved forward, firing their guns, as their shoulder-pods popped out of their armour. Two blue, swirling shields flared out of the pods, blocking incoming fire and knocking spectres out of its way. Behind them, Lee and James fired micro-rockets and electrical arcs through the shield, cutting a swath through the incoming robotic horde.

"Two hundred. Clear." The four continued to walk slowly into the tunnel; once Kai and Jane's shields began to turn orange, they carefully ducked to the sides of the tunnel, letting Lee and James take point. Lee and James activated their shields, transitioned to their primary weapons and began firing as Kai and Shepard reloaded their weapons, unslung their heavy weapons and continued firing.

"Four hundred. Clear." The cadets remained silent as the tunnel echoed with the sound of gunfire and the screeching of spectres as they fell to the ground.

"Six hundred," James noted. "Hey, look. They're falling back." True to form, the Spectres were no longer pushing forward; they were, instead, throwing grenades and sprinting in the other direction. "We keep going?"

Kai grunted as he dropped to his knee and began reloading his shotgun. "Yeah. Zaeed said to go until we lose sight of the breach point," Kai said, jerking his head towards the tunnel's entrace. "I see it fine."

"Aight."

"Eight hundred." They continued their advance, although the number of spectres in the tunnel had dropped significantly, with only the odd straggler hanging back; most were only visible as the glow of their lights ran off into the tunnel's distance. "One klick."

"One k, two-" Jane paused as her check-in was cut off a a low, bassy rumble shook through the tunnel. "You guys hear that?" The cadets looked at one another and dropped into a defensive crouch. Lee tapped her helmet. "Pilot Massani, Graveyard, you guys hear that?" The cadets' open channel remained silent for a moment, and their HUDs flickered and their comms screeched with a loud, buzzing static."

Fold interference detected. Initializing ark protocol one. Rebooting systems. Establishing communications.

"...cadet...out..." Zaeed's voice barely cut through the static.

Kai turned to look into the tunnel's opening, zooming in on the soldiers. "Regulars look confused. Ideas?"

Shepard kept one hand on her rifle and raised her left hand, and curved a finger over where her mouth would be in imitation of a frown. "Something's off. I say we get the hell out of this tunnel. James nodded nervously, weapon still raised. "I'm with Shep. This is fucked. Let's move." Still in formation, the cadets began a forward-facing sprint back towards the entrance, their jump kits firing to keep them upright. Their HUDs counted down the distance to the entrance; the cadets had made it to six hundred metres when to entire tunnel shook and rumbled, went silent, and suddenly was filled with a loud screeching noise and a blue glow. "Alright, fuck this shit," groaned James. "Time to bug the fuck out." The cadets all nodded, wheeled to face the entrance, and, jump kits flaring to life, rocketed back towards the entrance. Soon the opening was in non-augmented sight, and the cadets could see the soldiers beckoning at them. "Come on, come on, we're almost there," shouted Kai. "Move, move, move!"

Shepard was mid-jump when a half-dead Spectre suddenly flared to life, stuck out its hand and tried to grab onto her leg; her momentum cleared her of the hand, but the impact was enough to knock her into the tunnel's wall and her speed sent her crashing to the ground. Still rocketing forward, Kai's voice icon lit up in her HUD. "Shepard! Get up, we gotta-"

The entire tunnel flared with a blinding blue light and a noise that sounded like an FTL drive going critical; a horrific screeching scream that not even Shepard's helmet could filter to a comfortable level.

Then the tunnel collapsed, and Shepard's vision went dark.


	3. 1-3: Classified

**CHAPTER 3: "[CLASSIFIED]"**

 _Combat timer: Mission Start + 3 hours._

 _Backup suit power activated. Warning. Life signs critical. Trauma critical. Pilot sedation, level one. Engaging medical protocols. Scanning._

 _Minor leg lacerations detected. Major chest fractures detected. Left arm non functional. Right arm, minor fracture. Minor cranial trauma. Minor spinal damage. Triaging. Standby._

 _Left arm non-salvagable below scanned sector. Suit airseals viable. Severing limb with suit compression. Injecting nanites. Severing nerves. Applying medigel. Applying temporary gel-sealant. Pilot input required: apply suit-seal._

 _Right arm usable. Medigel applied. Leg wounds superficial. Medigel applied. Cranial trauma minimal. Suit stabilization applied. Spinal damage superficial. Applying medigel. Suit hardening complete._

 _Pilot stabilization complete. Pilot sedation, level zero. Applying stimulant._

Shepard groaned as she opened her eyes, blinked a few times, and read the readout on her HUD. She looked around.

The tunnel leading back towards the base had collapsed; the way forward was clear, if smaller than before. She was laying on the ground, and-

-and her left arm, or what looked like the bottom half of it, was stuck underneath a pile of rubble. She looked down at her own arm, and instead found a small stump sticking out from her shoulder which ended in a half-transluscent layer of gel covering both her stump and her pilot's suit.

"Fuck."

Alright. Nothing you haven't done in the sims. Shepard frowned as she idly recalled the two-week sim lessons in "Emergency Self-Amputation." Suit already did most of the work for me, thankfully. Alright. Deep breath. Shepard reached into her chest rig and pulled out a grey-black disk marked with a small medical cross and a small engraved message: this side towards stump. She groaned, placed the disc over her stump and held her breath as the disc attached itself over the suit with an audible click. _LimbDisc detected_ , her HUD read. _Applied. Please note the LimbDisc is not to be utilized as a permanent solution. Seek medical attention ASAP._

"No shit," Shepard croaked. She managed to ease herself into a sitting position, and looked around for her railgun and charge rifle, and found neither. "Alright," she muttered. Shepard patted at her leg and noticed no sidearm; thankfully, her smart pistol was laying on the ground a few metres away. "Okay. Handgun, twelve mags. Data knife. Two electronic countermeasure explosives. Two spray-nades. One arm. Great. Just great." She tabbed through her HUD, and pulled up a secure line. "Graveyard, Shield, this is Shield 9. I'm injured and trapped in the breach tunnel beneath the FOB."

She waited a minute and got no response.

"Alright. Alright. Fuck." Shepard grabbed her Smart Railpistol off of the ground, and eased herself into a standing position up against the tunnel wall. She glared down the tunnel, then back at the cave-in. Tabbing back into her HUD, she attempted to pull up a map.

 _Establishing connection to nearest navigational data source. Error: major fold interference detected. Inferring location from suit data. Error: major fold interference detected. Search for hostile uplinks?"_

"Fuck it. Sure, why not," grumbled Shepard.

 _"Searching for hostile data sources. Error: major fold interference detected."_

"Oh you and your fold shit can fuck right off," Shepard shouted into her helmet. She began making her way down the tunnel, and attempted to set her jump kit to help her walk. _"Error. Jump kit non-functional and non-salvageable."_

She walked, ejecting the jump-kit from her suit. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, and every few minutes the tunnel would rumble and flash blue.

She walked.

 _Combat timer: Mission Start + 4 hours._

Seven kilometers later, Shepard found herself at a branching path, one of which emitted a faint blue glow.

She walked towards the glow.

 _Combat timer: Mission Start + 6 hours._

Her legs ached and her stomach growled. She unsealed her faceplate for a moment, pulled a nutrient gel from her rig, swallowed it whole, and resealed her helmet. She walked.

Warning. Fold interference increasing. Ark-suit protocols charging.

 _Combat timer: Mission Start + 8 hours._

Shepard groaned and shuddered as her suit applied a minor field-stim.

She walked, closer and closer into the blue glow, and noticed a sharp vertical drop. Sighing, she slid down, her gloves microhooks scratching the walls as she made her descent. After a minute, she landed in another tunnel. She ate another nutrient gel. Two left.

She walked.

 _Combat timer: Mission Start + 10 hours_

She limped.

The tunnel suddenly gave way to a massive cave with a massive, glowing blue orb in the middle which pulsed softly- and the enourmous, flaming wreckage of what looked like a ship jammed into the side of it; on each side, faintly visible through the glow of the orb and the small fires that marked the side of the ship was a bit of grey-red sky. A few vehicles that looked vaguely like digging equipment lay wrecked around the blue orb.

 _Scanning. Ship identified as Cerberus Hammond-Class Carrier. Unable to scan interior due to major fold interference._

 _Scanning. Fold Artifact identified as [classified]. Exercise caution. Ark-suit protocols engaged at 20% strength. Chronological anchors activated. Reality anchors activated. Classified suit functions activated. Recommend entering ship to continue SERE._

Shepard limped slowly towards the ship, leaving a wide berth between her and the orb, and looked for a way into the ship that wasn't on fire or in danger of collapsing.

 _Combat timer: Mission Start + 11 hours_

She found, after nearly an hour of searching and nervous glancing at the orb- which she swore was pulsing faster than it was before- a mostly undamaged hatch on the side of the ship. Pistol raised, Shepard yanked on the hatch's emergency release, and gingerly made her way into the ship.

The ship's interior was dimly-lit and loud shudders wracked the ship, filling its corridors with metallic groans. Hoping that her memories from the simulations of the ship-class were accurate, she established her position- somewhere near the ship's engine core- and made a beeline for the nearest terminal. Carefully making her way through the ship's sloping interior, she found an emergency terminal, jammed her dataknife into it, and waited until her HUD lit up.

 _Cerberus systems compromised. Map updated. Scanning ship status. Communications systems offline or non-functional due to physical damage and-or fold interference. Ark-drive stable. Updating HUD with schematics. Viable atmo-cleared craft found at hangar marked as Point Alpha. Recommend commandeering craft and leaving area of communications interference. Be advised: ship is on an angle. Avoid extreme angles where possible. Ship scans detect minimal hostile life-signs. Warning: approximately three-hundred sixty-five enemy spectres online. Recommend evasion or subversion. Marking in HUD. Analyzing. Complete. Displaying clearest route to egress point._

Her HUD, now marking her as being a few corridors down from the engine, displayed a 3D map of the ship, almost two-kilometres long, and drew a snaking path through it to a point on the opposite side. Shepard swore, gripped her pistol a bit more tightly, and began to slowly stalk through the corridors. Dim emergency lights filled the ship with a pale red glow, and every minute or so a thin blue wave of light passed through the corridors. Within a few minutes Shepard exited the engineering section of the ship, and into the primary armoury. She scanned the corridors as she walked, occasionally ducking into a side-room or behind a crate to avoid a patrolling spectre, and once she found an open weapon rack, found a submachine gun she could comfortably wield single-handed.

 _Trivolt. Triple-barreled Shard-powered anti-personnel coil-machine pistol,_ her HUD explained.

She popped open her chest pouches, carefully and quietly removed her rifle magazines, placing them on the weapon rack and replacing them with ones for her new weapon. Satisfied, she holstered her sidearm, grabbed her new weapon, and resumed her slow ascent of the ship, leaving the armoury and making her way through both a barracks and into a small cafeteria. Nearing a doorway, she heard a clattering noise, and peeked around to find a woman in civilian clothing kicking at a wall-mounted container. She took aim and was about to pull the trigger when the woman suddenly froze, and raised her hands.

"Hey! Hey, yeah, you, I fucking see you there. Don't shoot, I'm unarmed. I'm not Cerberus, either."

Against her better judgement, Shepard flicked the safety on her Trivolt, but kept it raised. "You got proof?"

The woman raised a hand, showing a set of damaged mag-clamps still attached. "Prisoner. Been locked up for ages on this fucking shithole of a ship."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm all fucked up. Internal bleeding, couldn't find a medkit, and I have no fucking idea how to get to the infirmary. Autodoc's probably broken, given the crash. And my luck." The woman leaned against a nearby table. "Figured I'd at least have a last meal before I die."

"That's...not a good set of priorities."

"Lady, my insides feel like fucking paste. I haven't eaten anything solid in at least a few months. All I want," the woman said, pausing to groan, "is to bust open one of these crates and eat some hot food."

Shepard activated her exterior light to better examine the woman; she was pale and unbelievably thin, and had tattoos visible on her shaved head and her exposed hands. "Alright," Shepard said. "Stay where you are. You move, I shoot. We clear?"

"Crystal."

Sealing the door behind her and locking it, Shepard slowly moved towards the woman, and moved within arms reach, weapon still raised. "I'm going to scan you with my suit. Don't move."

The woman only let out a soft groan in response as Shepard placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.

 _Initiating exterior scan. Injecting nanites. Scanning. Stand by. A few moments later, her HUD lit up with a readout. Minor chest fractures detected. Minor arm fractures detected. Minor leg fractures detected. Unknown foreign object lodged within skull. Multiple unknown foreign objects implanted in spine. Major internal bleeding detected. Recommend medigel application. One unit to stabilize for twenty-four hours given no further injury. Eighteen units to heal._

Shepard opened her chest rig and found three injectors. "Alright. Look. I've got stuff that'll stabilize you for the next while." She took her hand off the woman, reached into her rig and pulled an injector out. "You know how to use one of these?"

The woman grabbed it and slammed it into her left thigh, and slumped into the ground with a thud. "Fuck that feels good."

"Alright. Look, we'll be passing by the infirmary on the way out, we'll see if we can get you something a bit better. You got a name?"

"Do you?"

"Yes, and you don't need to know it. I'm Alliance."

"Pilot?" The woman stared at her helmet. "You look like a Pilot."

"Sure."

The woman rolled her eyes. "You have an arm missing- fresh, it looks like- and you don't give a shit. Definetly a pilot. Name's Jack Blisk." Shepard took a step back and aimed at the woman's head; the woman snorted in response. "Yeah, look, I get that all the time. Listen, I'm nothing like my family name, alright? So you can fuck off with the gun, alright?"

"Apex?"

The woman grunted. "Do I look like a merc to you? Didn't make it into the, ahem, family business. Not cut out for it, apparently."

"Alright. Fine. Get up." Shepard lowered her gun, and walked over to the container Jack had been kicking at. She pried off a cover on the side, and jammed the dataknife in for a moment, and watched as the front of the container hissed open, revealing several ration packs bearing the Cerberus logo. Jack got up eagerly, winced, slowed down and peered inside. Jack rifled through the packs, and picked one.

"Fuck me. Spicy pork stew. Spicy. Pork. Stew." She sat down at a nearby table, and unsealed the pack. Moments later, steam wafted out of the bag; Jack unclipped the small spoon attached to the side of the pack, and eagerly wolfed down the reddish stew inside before tossing the spoon away, pouring the food straight into her mouth. About a minute later, Jack tossed the pack aside, and sighed contentedly. "Alright, Miss Pilot. I suppose we should get going?"

Shepard smirked beneath her helmet, and grabbed a few packs at random and stuffed them into her rig. "Yup. Not giving you a gun, though." She motioned at her to get up. "I hope you understand."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. What's our plan?"

"Our plan is you shut up unless I tell you we're clear and stay behind me. We're getting off this ship and- hopefully- find a way to contact the Alliance."

The pair crept through the ship, avoiding patrols of Spectres as they went. Despite the ship's odd angle, they managed to make good time, and within an hour were at the ship's main infirmary, less than ten minutes from the hangar marked in Jane's HUD. Shepard moved towards the hatch and paused. Warning, her HUD blinked. Hostile wounded Cerberus agent detected. Proceed with caution. Jane turned to Jack and motioned at her to stay down; Jack nodded in return. Shepard unsealed the hatch and leapt through, caught sight of the mostly unarmoured Cerberus agent, and fired several shots from her Trivolt; two hit the agent in the leg and the third tagged the agent's arm. The agent screeched in pain, and before the agent had hit the floor Shepard vaulted over a table, slid across and around the agent, grabbed the agent by the neck and slammed the soldier into the ground. Jane's glove flashed blue as it shocked the agent with a nonlethal payload. Jane jammed the barrels of her gun into the agent's neck and tore the helmet off the agent to reveal an binary with chunks of its face missing. The binary shifted uncomfortably and twitched as it tried, despite the shock, to escape; Jane responded by firing shots into its legs, knees and hands. She got off the android, her subgun still aimed straight at its face.

"Alright! Alright! Fuck, you can stop," the binary said. "Not like I can do anything now."

"You could still signal spectres or alert the ship somehow," Jane said calmly. "I'd hate to have to knife you and screw with your programming- so don't do anything stupid and answer my questions."

"Holy fuck, you got it, Pilot."

"You're going to tell me why Cerberus threw thirty-plus ships at an outpost-"

"-are you fucking stupid? You saw the fold...thing we crashed in to, what the fuck do you think?"

"How'd you know it was here?"

"Fuck if I know, they don't tell me shit! Hell, all I did was work on the engine."

Jack crept into the room and shut the hatch behind her, walked over to the binary and kicked it. "He's lying, the fucknugget. Tried to interrogate me about my family's contracts or some shit- it was ages ago. He's an officer of some sort."

The room was silent for a minute.

"I distinctly recall asking you politely to answer my questions." Jane knelt back down, flipped the binary's body over, and tore an armour plate off the back of its neck, exposing a dataport. "Last chance. How'd you know the artifact was here?"

"We've known since initial mining operations on Iris started. One of the scientists on-site- a Doctor Chandana- found out it was here and falsified the reports."

"Where is Chandana now?"

"I don't know, I swear! He's in a different cell."

Jane clamped the Trivolt, drew her dataknife and tapped in on the wall for a moment. "Alright. Next. Why show up now?"

"Seriously, no clue. We get the orders, we follow them. Never had a reason to disobey my superiors."

"Your opinion?"

"My opin- okay, uh, I'd guess it's because there weren't many Alliance ships to help? Either in-system or within single jump range. I'd also heard rumours that we're not the only cell to be going after these artifact things- and before you jam that fucking knife into me, please let me say again that I only know what goes on in this cell."

"You buy that, Jack?"

Jack kicked the binary again. "Unfortunately, yes."

"You have to have known the artifact would cause comm interference. How far do we need to get to have clear comms?"

"Shit, I dunno, twenty, thirty clicks?"

"Alright. What were you doing in the infirmary?"

"Trying to find some meds for one of my guys."

"Where is he?"

"He should have been in the prison block."

Jack snorted. "Guy with the cut on his face, wounded leg? Yeah, he's dead."

"Fuck you, you, you bitch!" The binary squirmed but was firmly trapped beneath Shepard.

"Cool it." Shepard sheathed her knife, popped open her chest rig and pulled out a black cube about the size of her fist, and jammed it against the binarys dataport. The binary shuddered, and suddenly went limp as its lights winked out.

"What'd you do to him?"

"Put him in here," Jane said, waving the cube at Jack. "When we get back to friendly lines the techs'll interrogate him. Not often we get live Cerberus agents to question." Jane got up, and sighed. "Come on."

The pair resumed their ascent of the ship, and soon enough found themselves in a hangar with its landing bay blown open; sunlight filtered through the clouds in the sky lit the hangar with a grey-red haze. Most of the dropships were either obviously damaged or smashed into a pile in the bottom of the hangar, but a few seemed operational. Motioning to Jack, the two quietly snuck aboard, sealed the rear hatch and entered the cockpit. "I'll fly, but in case something happens, will you be good?"

Jack nodded back at Shepard. "Yeah, controls look pretty standard. I should be alright."

"Perfect." Jane found the ignition panel, pried it open with her knife, and inserted the dataknife; a moment later the ship's consoles flickered to life. "Let's get going." Shepard began the take-off procedure and within a minute the dropship whirred as its engines activated, and she began flying the dropship out of the hangar bay when alarms began to blare.

 _Warning. Ark engine damaged. Warp core unstable. Fold interference detected. Typhon-scale anomaly reaction imminent. Automatic engine shutdown incomplete due to fold interference. Manual override required._

Shepard screamed in frustration and kicked the console. "Oh for FUCK's sake! I thought the engine was stable! I have had enough of this shit!" She stood up, pulled the binary's datacore and a black cylinder from her chest rig, tossing both to Jack. "Cylinder is a one-time-pad, gets you onto the Alliance comm channel." She pointed out the cockpit. "You fly as fast as you can and you keep trying to get onto the Alliance net, and explain what's going on."

Jack caught both items, and slid the cylinder into the communications panel. "I, uh, what? What's going on?"

"You tell them that Shield 9 encountered a fold artifact, and that this goddamn piece-of-shit ship is going critical and that they need to leave, because if I don't turn this fucking engine off everyone on the planet- and everyone around it for that matter- is dead."

Jack went a bit paler than she already was. "Oh."

"That's what I thought." Shepard unholstered her subgun and stormed off towards the back of the dropship, muttering angrily as she went.

"Hey! Pilot! Before I go! You never told me your name," shouted Jack.

"Not a pilot," responded Jane. "Cadet Pilot Jane Shepard. Now get the fuck outta here." She jabbed the dropship's rear hatch button with her gun, and hopped out of the back, landed on the hangar's floor, and watched the dropship soar off into the cloudy, haze-filled sky. She tabbed through her HUD, administered a combat stim, and as her body's aches and pains eased into painless wakefulness she took off at a sprint into the bowels of the ship once again. Shepard hurled herself back down towards the engine of the Cerberus ship in a flurry of wallruns and slides, weaving around the various tables, crates and other obstacles in her way; a few spectres caught sight of her on the way down, but she was moving too quickly for them to do anything besides chatter incoherently at her. She was almost back at the cafeteria where she'd found Jack when a metallic buzzing sound filled the ship, followed by the entire craft violently shifting towards the right. Jane, who had been sliding on the ground at the time, popped herself in the air using her legs and braced as she slammed into the left wall of the corridor, bounced off, and was thrown feet-first into the cafeteria.

 _Warning. Ark engine approaching critical damage. Warp core detonation, ETA 10 minutes. All crew, priority to manual override in engineering._

 _The ship's loudspeakers let out a hiss of static after its canned message, then a screeching sound._

 _Error. Interior structural integrity compromised. Error._

 _Warning._

Jane got up, and glanced around the cafeteria she was now in- still mostly intact despite the ship's shaking. She reset her HUD and was ready to continue her descent when the the ceiling above her groaned and a portion of it slammed into the floor, narrowly missing her. She frowned, and continued her descent. As she got further to the ship's engines, the corridors became more and more damaged; a thick, acrid smoke that her filters couldn't quite scrub filled the air. More worrying were the neon-blue pulses of light coming from the direction of the engine room. Shepard grumbled under her breath as she ran, feeling sharp pains in her legs. Her suit flashed some sort of warning, which she dutifully ignored, instead injecting another combat stim. Refreshed, she found herself at the entrance to the engineering bay, unclipped her gun and rounded the corner.

Two Cerberus crewmen, presumably engineers, were inside what looked like a control room which overlooked an airlock/ One of the men was unconscious on the floor with both legs twisted at painful angles; several empty medigel injectors were littered around him. The other was standing at a console, furiously flipping switches and occasionally kicking the console. Weapon raised, Shepard turned on her external speakers and cleared her throat loudly. "Gentlemen?"

"I'm a little busy right now," the engineer shouted, "trying not to get blown to bits, so please just let me do my job."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "I'm with the Alliance, and you need-"

"Ma'am, I really don't care who you're with. If- and honestly, it's looking more like when than if- that engine goes, this whole planet's fucked at a bare minimum." The engineer, still not turning around, paused for a moment, clearly in thought, before kneeling down, popping the console's bottom hatch open and began rooting around inside its computers.

Shepard sighed, and flicked the safety on her Trivolt. "Alright. Truce?"

"Sure."

"Can I help?"

The engineer pulled a few smoking chips out from the console's computer bays, tossed them aside, and turned to stare at Jane. "Fuck me. You're a Pilot? You have a dataknife?" Jane tossed it to him; the engineer caught it and jammed it into a port. A readout on the console lit up and the engineer positively howled in frustration and kicked the console again. "Fuck! Come on, what the fuck am I supposed to do here?"

"Calm down," Jane said coolly. "What's the problem? Walk me through it."

"Manual override's not working. Fold interference and the crash must have fucked up a bunch of the connectors to the engine or something, so the master console- this one- isn't working. Michael over there-" he jerked his head towards the unconcious engineer- "tried to use the physical override past the airlock. Not only are his insides probably all scrambled from the engine's warp pulses, there was this big fucking shockwave that blasted him back into the airlock when he tried to use the physical shutdown lever." The engineer sighed, and slumped to the ground. "Fuck it. Mind putting a few into my skull? I'd really prefer not to get blasted into chunks across the fabric of space-time."

"Is there a way to depower the engine somehow? Anything. No bad ideas."

"I-uh, no? I mean, if we had proper equipment we could go in there and yank the fold core out of the engine itself. But not only is the only suit we have ripped up from the crash," the engineer said, pointing at a dented storage closet in the corner of the room, "that damn artifact we crashed into is fucking reality right in the ass. If the chrono anomalies don't rip you apart, the warp pulses'll cook us alive. Plus, core extraction is a delicate process that usually takes, like, four hours. We have five minutes if I'm optimistic."

"Okay," Shepard said, nodding. "So, I get past the airlock, and into the engine room. How do I extract the fold core?"

"I'm sorry, did you just ignore- fuck it, you know what? We're all fucked anyway, you wanna all fucked up that's fine by me. Great. First, you make your way to the catwalk by the engine core. There's a manual hatch that pops open the ark shielding, but given our luck it'll probably already be open. So you just pop on in there, hop inside the ark shield, and yank the sucker out."

Jane nodded. "Sounds simple."

"Oh, yeah, real simple. Just gotta avoid- well, you'll see. I'll take those bullets, please."

"You got a name, engineer?"

The engineer laughed sadly. "Just do it already."

Shepard shot him in the head.

Shepard stepped into the airlock and waited as the entrance sealed. The exit hatch was priming to open when her suit began to pump a stream of warnings into the top-left of her HUD.

Warning. Fold interference at critical levels. Ark-suit protocols engaged at 100% percent. Reality anchors online and deployed. Timeline established. Chrono-stabilizers active. Classfied suit functions at full power. Warning. Ark protocols will lose power in ten minutes. Warning. Fold anomalies detected. Avoid at all costs. You are in a high-danger environment. Exercise caution.

Shepard's suit began to hiss as several panels unfolded on her back and arms, revealing blue-grey sections which glowed and pulsed- in time with the pulses emanating from the engine, she noted idly. The airlock's exit finished opening, revealing a massive room with the ship's warp core- a massive suspended sphere with several cracks in its exterior- at its centre, with catwalks leading towards it. Her HUD found a route that apparently avoided the worst of the room's damage and bypassed the strange blue-grey patches of space floating around the room. The engine's pulses slammed into her, but Shepard felt nothing more than an uncomfortable heat in her suit. She took off at a run up the stairs to her left, latched and ran on one of the engine room's walls to avoid a cluster of the fold anomalies, through which she could see what appeared to be a pristine version of the room. She bounced off and rolled along the catwalk, and sprinted over to the hatch the engineer had spoken of. She knelt down, found an emergency release lever, and turned it; the hatch popped off, fell into an anomaly beneath the catwalk, and promptly disappeared. Shepard did her best to ignore that, and peered inside the engine.

The sphere's interior was blinding blue-white, but suspended in the centre of the otherwise empty sphere was a glowing sphere which vibrated and pulsed frantically. The moment she saw it, her HUD began to spit warnings at her and flash warning symbols.

 ** _WARNING. FOLD ANOMALY DETECTED. [CLASSIFIED.] DO NOT ENGAGE. DO NOT TOUCH._**

 ** _PILOT PROTOCOL E2-JC-T-F009-C. RETREAT IMMEDIATELY AND CONTACT ALLIANCE PERSONNEL. MESSAGE CODE TiBBXZYtE5._**

"Bit late for that," Shepard muttered. "Well. No time like the present, I guess?" She stepped inside the sphere and was instantly hit with a wave of searing heat; her suit managed to dull the pain to a bearable level- not unlike a scalding shower- and she pressed onward. Every step was exponentially harder to take as the sphere's pulses seemed to hit her with physical weight, walls of blue light punching her in the chest. A sudden, horrifying pain shot through her left stump; the suit sealant had popped off and the pulses coming from the engine's core had cooked the gel surrounding her stump. Shepard simply grit her teeth in response and opened her HUD.

 _Administering trauma stim. Administering combat stim. Administering focus stim. Warning. Stim overdose imminent. Please wait another hour before administering another stim._

Shepard took another step, screaming into her helmet in pain.

 _Override order accepted. Administering analgesics. Warning. Severe fractures detected. Severe internal bleeding detected. Severe spinal damaged detected. Administering medigel. Warning. Suit medigel reserves empty. Administering trauma stim. Administering trauma stim._

Shepard took another step. Another. Another. Another.

The core was within reach now.

She grabbed it with her arm, and with every last inch of her strength flung herself towards the opening of the sphere. She seemed to fly with the sphere and sailed straight out of the opening and slammed into the catwalk, engine core in tow, and with the very last bit of consciousness rolled the core away from the engine.

She struggled to stay awake as her HUD flashed red.

She was very, very tired.

She closed her eyes.

She slept.

 _Warning. Pilot damage critical. Engaging medical procedures. Scanning._

 _Major leg fractures, lacerations, burns detected. Major chest fractures detected. Major internal bleeding. Stim overdose detected. Left arm previously removed. Right arm, major fractures, burns, warp damage detected. Minor cranial trauma. Major spinal fractures detected. Triaging. Error._

 _Medical kit exhausted. Stim kit exhausted. Damage at maximum threshold. Nanites nonviable. Preparing Pilot for regeneration protocols. Standby._

 _Suit seals 79% viable. Suit sealant depleted. Compression seals viable. Nanites re-purposing flesh for temporary suit sealant. Suit lock engaged. Cranial preservation systems online. Regeneration Chip activated. Wiping suit protocols. Rewriting. Pilot data copy online. Blood toxicity at critical levels. Blood flow at critical levels. Nanites engaged. Re purposing leg material for repairs. Standby._

 _Waiting._

 _Waiting._

 _Complete. Maximum possible repairs in-progress or complete. Activating relays. Activating communications. Broadcasting on secure line._

 _MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY. OPEN CALL TO ALLIANCE FORCES, PILOT DOWN AND IN CRITICAL CONDITION. REQUEST IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE. LOCATION: PLANET IRIS, BENEATH FOB GRAVEYARD, CERBERUS SHIP / HAMMOND CLASS, ENGINE CORE. WARNING: FOLD ARTIFACT NEARBY._

 _[CLASSIFIED CHANNEL, ENCRYPTED BURST MODE. PRIORITY ONE.]_

 _EC-22-C-1P. CADET PILOT LOCATION IRIS ANOMALY TYPHON-CLASS FOUND. CERBERUS ATTEMPTED CAPTURE; REPELLED. CONTAINMENT PROCEDURE "RIFLEMAN." IMMEDIATE RETRIEVAL REQUIRED._


	4. ARC 2 - PILOT: REGENERATION

**ARC II: PILOT**

 **CHAPTER ONE: "REGENERATION"**

 **PILOT SCHOOL [LOCATION CLASSIFIED]**

 **June 24th, 462 Freeport**

"Shepard? It's time to wake up."

She woke with a start, leapt to her feet and tried to draw her sidearm. She realized a moment later that she wasn't wearing one- and that, in fact, she wasn't wearing a combat suit, but rather a t-shirt and shorts.

"Oi, cool it, Shepard."

She snapped around to find herself inside the Gauntlet training course she'd run too many times to count during her training. Sitting on the circular central bench and smiling at her was Zaeed.

"You did good, Shepard. Very good."

Jane shook her head a few times, and frowned. "Okay. Uh, hi there, Pilot Massani."

"Right now, Zaeed will be just fine."

"Zaeed. What happened?"

Zaeed grinned at her. "You saved the asses of everybody on Iris, Shepard. About ten seconds after you popped out that engine core, the entire ship shut down. We were just mopping up, still holding the line, when we got your distress signal.

"Distress- oh, fuck. Am I dead?"

"Congrats, Shepard," Zaeed said, beaming with pride. "First in your group to regen. Not bad, I gotta say. Rest of the cadet and half the people on the base are replaying your mission recorder, watching it like a movie. Minus the classified parts, of course."

"Wait. So, I did die?"

"Clinically, sure. Your suit preserved enough of your head that, by the time we got to you, all we had to do was get you into the facility, do some surgery, and pass you on over to the medical facilities aboard the LAC Rainfall. They did the transfer into a fresh body for you." Zaeed tapped the bench he was sitting on. "We landed back at Pilot School about an hour ago, and the techs are just finishing up the wake-up procedure, making sure your new body is as good as new. Better, in fact."

Shepard let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, and sat on the floor. "Wow. I thought only full-fledged Pilots got upgraded replacements."

Zaeed leaned forward, and tossed Shepard a set of dogtags. "You're right. Welcome home, Pilot Shepard."

She blinked and found herself staring at a hospital-white ceiling, with Zaeed and several other cadets staring down at her. She opened her mouth to say something and stopped when she felt her jaw move faster than she expected.

"Easy there, Pilot," Zaeed said. "If you thought your augs were high-grade before, they're nothing like what you have now."

Shepard closed her eyes took a deep breath. "Jack," she managed to say, feeling simultaneously stiff and almost too limber.

"In safe hands. Intelligence Services are questioning her- and that Cerberus AI you nabbed-, but I'm not cleared for all of the info. I've got a friend there though- I hear Jack Blisk is cooperative and the spooks are falling over themselves to have a friendly Blisk on board."

"Ken?"

She flinched as the corner of her HUD lit up with the image of Kenneth's battle-damaged chassis. "I thought we both agreed Ken is a bad name?" Kenneth's voice suddenly wavered. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you, Cadet Pilot Shepard. I was worried I'd lost you for a bit there."

"I'm alright, Kenneth. I'm alright." She looked back at Zaeed. "So, what now?"

"Well, one of your other cadets got promoted to Pilot as well- Riley. We get you up, dressed, and do your informal induction into the Pilot cadre. Formal ceremony'll be next week; you're gonna spend that time getting up to speed with your new body's abilities and training some more." Zaeed paused, and suddenly his icon appeared in her HUD as well. "KN, you there?"

"Yes, Pilot Massani."

"Congrats on your promotion to Titan. You may not have pulled any stunts or heroics but somehow, without a Pilot on board, you had the highest combat rating out of everyone besides me and Jessie. If that doesn't count for something I don't know what else does."

Kenneth's icon lit up and he spoke with clear pride. "It is an honour, Pilot Massani."

"Alright, come on, Pilot. Take my arm, and take it slow- you're almost twice as heavy as you were before, but thanks to the tech you're going to feel lighter than ever." Zaeed extended an arm, which Shepard took as slowly and carefully as possible, and got off the infirmary bed. She stretched her arms and legs and paused to look at Zaeed. "Can I have something to eat? I'm hungry. Really hungry."

Zaeed chuckled, and patted her on the back. "Theoretically speaking, Shepard, that body comes preloaded with nutrients. I've been through 19 regenerations and let me tell you that's a load of shit. I swear I get hungrier every time. Come on, we'll head to the mess and get you filled in with Riley."

Jane followed Zaeed out of the infirmary and towards the mess hall; their arrival was greeted by wild cheering from the cadets, pilots and staff. Zaeed banged on a nearby wall until the cheering stopped, and cleared his throat. "Oi! Shepard, Riley and I need to have a conversation without you lot screaming like a bunch of kids, so pipe down! You can have your screaming match after I'm done."

The room responded with a wave of grumbling, and returned to normal; Lee waved the pair over to a nearby table. "Pilot Massani! Jane! Over here," she shouted.

"You're a Pilot, Riley. You just call me Zaeed from now on," Zaeed grumbled, sitting down. "You two get whatever you want from the premium menu, my treat."

Lee's eyes lit up and she tapped the table excitedly. "Barker Reserve, Angel City 15th Anniversary Special. On the rocks."

Zaeed stared at Lee and rubbed at his forehead. "Within reason, Lee. Fuck's sake, that's not even on the menu. How'd you know they even have that?"

Lee shrugged nonchalantly. "I have my ways."

"Well, pick again, Lee."

"Barker Reserve on the rocks?"

"I swear, less than a day since I promote you and you're cleaning out my wallet. Look, you get paid more as a Pilot, sure, but with taste like that you'll be broke in less than a month."

"Is that a yes?"

Zaeed groaned. "Yes it is. Shepard?"

"Ginger Swirl?"

"Pfft. Kids these days and their fancy cocktails," Zaeed grumbled. "When I got my certs-"

"-come off it, gramps," Lee said, grinning.

Zaeed swore under his breath, and marched off to line up at the ordering station; Shepard watched him go, then turned to Riley. "Congrats, Lee. I didn't think I'd make Pilot this quick."

"Only had to die to get it," Lee replied, chuckling. "You gonna make this a habit? Playing hero?"

"I'd rather not," Shepard responded, flexing her new body's left arm. "It wasn't exactly fun. What about you?"

"Oh, we went back topside after the cave-in. I got separated from the main group after a ship landed near the FOB; GB and I managed to get inside and wipe out all of the remaining crew, deactivate the ship's guns and hack all of the onboard spectres." She paused, thinking. "Also I may have killed nine titans on foot with a handgun, dataknife and six arc charges."

Shepard stared at her for a moment. "Fuck. That's hardcore."

"Well, if we're gonna compare heroics, if it wasn't for you we'd all be chunks of meat thrown across, like, a hundred timelines or some shit."

"Don't you start," Shepard said uncomfortably. "I'd rather not tell that story repeatedly."

"Get used to it," Zaeed said, returning to the pair with a tray full of drinks and foil-wrapped packs. "Ginger Swirl, a glass of Barker Reserve- and yes, I splurged and got you the Angel City Reserve-"

He was cut off by a squeal from Lee, who stopped and sheepishly grinned.

"-and you owe me a drink next time. Also, fresh burgers. Dig in, Pilots." Zaeed watched as the two devoured their burgers in a matter of minutes, and took a swig from his own drink before clearing his throat. "Alright. Down to buisness. You two are the first to get your Pilot certification from your class, but the others will probably be joining you over the course of the next few months. As Pilots, you're free to take any commission you want- and there's plenty to choose from. Most Pilots join up with a Cadre, like Brigg's Marauders, the Rifle Corps or the 6-4. You're also free to attach yourself to another branch of the Alliance military- Pilots have done everything from assisting regular army grunts to working as part of guard details on the Exploration Fleet. I'd recommend doing a bit of research, contacting recruiters and seeing where you think you'd be a good fit. If you don't make a choice, that's also fine- you'll be pushed into 1st Pilot Reserve until you decide to move out, though some people choose to stay there for their career, too. Just keep in mind that while Cadres have quite a bit of operational freedom, if the Alliance goes to war, you're along for the ride, so it's not like you can escape the chain of command entirely."

"Of course," a fourth voice cut in, "if you're scouted, that provides another opportunity." The three looked up to see a black-haired woman in a jet-black dress uniform standing next to their table. "Senior Agent Lawson, Alliance Intelligence Services."

Zaeed stood up, and scratched his head. "Sorry, Agent. Do I have to salute you? I'm not up to date on how your chain of command works in relation to ours."

"No need," Lawson said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not, Agent Lawson." Zaeed sat back down, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I was just giving our two new pilots here the basics on finding their first commission."

"Of course, Pilot Massani." Lawson turned to Shepard and Riley, and folded her arms on the table. "Pilot Massani is correct in saying that most Pilots join a Cadre or another branch of the military soon after receiving their certification. What he failed to mention is that there is another option open to you. I am speaking, of course, of being scouted by Intelligence Services to join us as a covert operations specialist."

Jane stared at the agent, and hummed to herself for a moment. "So, we'd be like black ops agents?"

Agent Lawson glared back at her for a moment before her expression settled. "I dislike the term, but it isn't entirely inaccurate. You won't always be involved in direct combat, but rest assured that your skills as a Pilot would be put to excellent, if often unconventional use. I'd also like to emphasize that you'll receive training and equipment that you wouldn't necessarily receive if you were to join a Cadre." She paused, and tapped the table a few times. "The pay is also excellent, if you're worried about that."

The table was silent for a moment before Shepard spoke up. "You said we were being scouted? Say I decline the offer. Would I be free to join later?"

"You'd be free to apply to join. We're one of the only branches that requires Pilots to apply for service."

"But," Lee interjected, "I'm guessing if we join now we can skip that?"

"Correct. You have a few days to consider the offer, and with your new clearance there's a lot of information about the service available that I think you'll find appealing." Agent Lawson stood up and smiled at the group. "I hope you'll consider my offer, Pilots. Congratulations on your promotions and best of luck."

* * *

 _Priority One Message._

 _From: Director_

 _Subject: Emergency Deployment_

 _I'll make this brief._

 _The AIS ESF Demeter SR-1 will be deploying ahead of schedule due to unforeseen circumstances._

 _Attached is a list of available personnel- please make your selections by 0900 tomorrow. The transfers will be expedited; in the mean time, on-site resources are being diverted to prepare the Demeter for its first non-test launch._

 _Also attached is your mission briefing. You are free to brief your personnel once they have arrived._

 _I place my trust in you to understand the gravity of our situation and to uphold the mission at all costs._

 _Best of luck, Captain._

 _Priority One Message._

 _From: Captain ED-7EN722_

 _Subject: RE: Emergency Deployment_

 _I've attached my personnel selections and read the briefing. We've already started the loading procedures and will be ready for launch tomorrow by 1900, assuming the personnel arrive on time._

 _Try not to worry, Director. The ship is in capable hands. The crew and I will uphold the mission._


	5. 2-2: SHIP

**CHAPTER 2: "SHIP"**

 **July 1st, Freeport 462**

Two other cadets were promoted alongside Lee and Jane; their group was milling about the auditorium after a thankfully-short ceremony.

"Spill," said Lee, grinning. "I'm joining the Rifle Corps."

Kai rolled his eyes. "What, planning on being the next Cooper?"

"Listen, Kai, not everyone gets to be as boring as you."

Kai snorted in response. "I'd hardly call the 6-4 boring." The cadets and pilots in their small huddle cheered; a few high-fived Kai. "Vega? Jane? What about you two?"

"Eh, I haven't decided yet," James responded, crossing his arms. "I was thinking of joining up with a grunt unit, help out our non-pilot friends, yeah? Jane?"

"I, uh, took Agent Lawson's offer. I'm shipping out to Intelligence Services tomorrow."

"Oooh," Lee cut in. "You're just in it for the ass."

"I'm sorry, what?" Shepard blocked a punch in the arm from both Vega and Riley. "Oh, shut up."

Kai nodded sagely. "Hey, you've gotta admit, that's a fine looking woman. Plus she's got the whole secret agent spy thing going on."

Lee clapped Jane on the back. "Shep, when even king stick-up-his-ass admits it, that means you're in denial because holy hell that was a fine piece of work."

Jane shuddered. "You're drooling."

"Am not! And if I was, there'd be nothing wrong with that."

"Wrong with what, Pilot Riley," interjected a familiar voice. "Sorry to intrude, Pilots." The group wheeled around to face the newcomer, and stared at Agent Lawson, this time wearing a form-fitting combat undersuit instead of her dress uniform. "Sorry to interrup- why are you all looking at me like that?"

The group was silent.

"Nothing, ma'am. Is something wrong?" asked Jane.

"Classified," the agent responded. "But go grab whatever you need from your bunk and tell your Titan to meet outside at SA Bravo as soon as possible.

"Wait, I'm shipping out already?"

Agent Lawson gave a smile that had absolutely no warmth in it. "Yes. We're already five minutes behind schedule, so get moving. You can always talk to your fellow graduates later." She turned around and took off at a jog.

"That is a mighty fine pair of buttocks indeed," Lee said, jaw half-open.

Shepard snorted as she hugged her fellow Pilots. "You disgust me and I'll stay in touch with you all."

Vega gave her a fistbump; Kai shook hands with Jane. "Best of luck, Jane," Kai said proudly, before sprinted off towards the hangar that had served as the Cadets' home for past two years; she ran up to her hangar bay. "Hey! Kenneth! You there?"

KN's lights were flashing a solid pattern of green-blue, meant to let organics know an AI was having a discussion in Binary. The flashing stopped for a moment, and the light turned a solid green. "Pilot Shepard! Apologies, I was just having a chat with the others. What's up?"

"We're shipping out, Kenneth!"

"Already? We accepted the position only a few days ago, I thought I'd have at least another week of lounging about."

"No can do, KN."

The Titan made an mechanical equivalent of a groaning noise, and imitated stretching his arms. "Oh, fine. I suppose we have to earn our pay at some point. What's the plan?"

"I just gotta grab my gear and toss it into the storage compartment, then we're off to staging area Bravo for pickup."

"Understood, Pilot. I'll prep for rollout."

Jane popped open her locker at KN's feet and pulled out a large duffel bag, and threw the few items she had laying around her workbench- a photo of her mother, some disassembled handgun magazines, and a plush dog toy- into seperate compartments within the bag. She clambered up KN's right leg and into his open cockpit, hit a button on one of the consoles and threw the bag into a small compartment behind the seat. KN got up from his cradle and waited a moment as several charging cables retracted from his chassis, then stepped out into the hangar and began stomping off towards one of the staging areas connected to the hangar. He chattered in Binary and waved at the other Titans in the hangar as he left, and then sighed. "You know, I'm gonna miss this place."

"Getting homesick already, KN?"

"I know it's just a hangar bay, but I kind of am, Pilot Shepard. I just hope that whatever fancy spy mission we go on has a nice, comfy hangar for me."

Shepard laughed as she and KN both willed the chassis forward, cockpit open. "Hey, I'm the one doing the spying. You don't blend in very will with humans in that chassis."

"I think if you put a bow tie and tuxedo on me, I would be nigh-unrecognizable," Kenneth replied, laughing.

A minute later they arrived at the staging area, where a transport ship was waiting. Agent Lawson was standing near its open rear hatch, waving at them. "Come on, you two, hurry it up. KN, get yourself hooked up for FTL- we've got a schedule to keep!" Agent Lawson ran into the ship, and the pair followed. The interior of the transport's vehicle bay was similar, if slightly smaller than most other transports Shepard had been in; a spartan metal room with a few charging cradles in one corner, otherwise empty of personnel. KN walked into one of them, waited for the chargers and restraints to click in, then shut the cockpit. Miranda's icon lit up on Shepard's HUD, and Jane pinged it.

"We're locked in, Agent Lawson."

"Excellent. Helmsman, bring us back to base, please."

A man's voice rang over the ship's comms. "Alright, we're heading out. Please ensure your restraints are locked in tight, and take a deep breath. FTL is running, green across, capacitors ready. Twelve-jump sequential lined up."

KN rumbled and Shepard's jaw dropped. "Fuck, twelve jumps? How big is the core in this thing?"

"I want to go home," KN said quietly.

"Here we go. Jumping in five. Four. Three. Two. One. Mark."

The ship lurched and its FTL drives let out their telltale screech; Shepard braced herself as twelve disorienting waves of nausea and dizziness hit her all at once before the compression of FTL exit squeezed her. Jane was a minute away from throwing up into the cockpit when the screeching stopped and a wave of calm washed over her.

"Green, green, exit is clean. Landing at IS Shipyard Kodai in ten- welcome back to Spook Country, folks."

Shepard activated the external feed on her HUD and found the ship approaching an incredibly massive, bustling cylindrical space station, with various landing pads and weapon emplacements jutting out of it. Hundreds of ships jumped into system and exited as Shepard watched, giving the station the air of a civilian spaceport- if one ignored the guns. The transport weaved through traffic and made its way to what looked like a massive airlock built into the side of a shipyard, and landed inside as her feed cut off. There was an audible noise as the transport's landing gears clamped to what was presumably the interior of the shipyard.

"Clamps are down, airlock is...clear. Get moving, people."

KN popped the cockpit open as Shepard leaned forward, and the pair noticed Agent Lawson jogging out of the elevator at the far end of the hangar. She waved at the two to follow, and KN detached himself from the wall and followed the agent off the ship and into an enormous hangar.

Shepard and Kenneth stopped in awe.

At the centre of the hangar was a ship unlike any either had seen. Unlike the blocky, utilitarian craft of the Alliance Navy, the body of the ship was a sleek black curve; two white wings joined by a spoiler-like protrusion which girded the main body ended in all-black, forward-facing wingtips on the sides and two mandible-esque points at the front. Emblazoned on the side was a small blue circle with a wing inside; written underneath in a simple block font was the word Demeter. All in all, it resembled some sort of luxury ship more than anything designed for military use.

"I know, it looks like a cushy cruise ship," Agent Lawson said, smiling. "But it's anything but. Built and designed around some very, very classified technology with even more classified materials, and packed to the gills with weaponry and utility suites so unorthodox that we'd probably be violating all of the Navy's requirements and restrictions if it wasn't for the fact that nobody's written any rules about this sort of stuff."

The trio were silent for a moment before KN rumbled. "That looks like a comfy ship, regardless."

Agent Lawson's expression returned to its normal, neutral state, and jogged off towards a loading ramp sticking out of the belly of the ship. "Enough gawking. Let's move."

The pair followed Agent Lawson onto the loading ramp and made their way past a variety of crew and staff loading supplies onto the ship. Once onboard, Lawson directed the pair to a drop chute. "KN, stow your chassis there and move up a floor. Dump yourself into a body, and familiarize yourself with the ship. Briefing is in the CIC at 1700. You have any questions, ping me or ask one of the crew with the red bands on- they're personnel who have been with the ship long enough to answer any concerns you have. Clear?"

"Clear, Agent Lawson," the pair said together.

"Excellent. Get to it."

KN made his way over to the chute and hooked himself into its cradle; once all the restraints were locked, the cradle ascended for a moment, and stopped inside a hangar next to a few spare Titan chassis and a two Mako APCs. Shepard slipped out of her dress uniform, slid open her gear compartment on her left and threw on her fatigues. She popped the cockpit and slid down onto the hangar floor; a moment later, the lights on KN's chassis winked out, the side of the cradle opened and a boxy, humanoid chassis popped out. The robot's mono-eye light winked green, and Kenneth turned to Shepard. "I don't know how you people handle being so small," he said, staring around the hangar. "Everything looks so much bigger from down here. Don't think I'll ever get used to it." He made a mechanical harrumph and crossed his arms. "Also, what the hell? The outside of this ship was all fancy and everything and the inside is just...normal? There should be a rule against that."

The two made their way into the ship proper, and true to Kenneth's word the ship was, for lack of a better word, normal- resoundingly so. The only real difference, as far as either could tell, was that the emergency hardsuit lockers were marked as containing "ark-enabled protective suits," and that the chairs looked slightly more comfortable than usual. The ship's layout was rather different from other frigates either had served on, given that the ship was more long and sleek than boxy, but the pair figured out where most things were within a few minutes. They arrived at the CIC at 1650 and found an empty pair of chairs to sit in, and waited as the rest of the crew filtered in. At 1700 hundred sharp, a female android in a captain's uniform walked in from the cockpit into the CIC, and came to a stop at the large holo-board in the centre of the room. She scanned the room, then nodded to herself.

"Thank you all for showing up on time," the captain said with a smooth, synthesized voice. "For our new arrivals, welcome aboard the Alliance Intelligence Services Experimental Scouting Frigate Demeter, Stealth and Reconnaissance, One. I am Captain ED-7EN722; you may call me Edee. Helmsman, please seal the deck and engage security protocols."

The CIC doors and elevator sealed shut with security hatches, and the deck's lights turned off, then back on. The holo-board lit up with a 3D image of the Demeter.

"Many of our new personnel are no doubt wondering why the Demeter looks more like a cruise-liner than a warship," ED said calmly, gesturing to the hologram. "The following information is strictly confidential; you have all been pre-cleared for it, but rest assured that any information leaks from this crew will be personally handled by Director Harper." Several of the Intelligence Agents including Agent Lawson, Shepard noted, shuddered slightly. "Please keep that in mind going forward." The ship's hologram flickered and changed, showing only the main curved body of the ship. "Perhaps the first question that comes to mind is why the main hull of the ship is a uniform piece."

The holo-board lit up a new image next to the model of the Demeter: a massive black cube, triple the size of the Demeter, that pulsed blue at regular intervals. "This was a Precursor artifact that the Expedition Fleet found about twelve years ago. Its exact purpose is well above my pay grade." The holographic cube's outer layers disappeared, and several chunks of it were pushed to the side to reveal a long semi-cylinder about the size of the Demeter. "What I can tell you is that Director Harper was given, or negotiated for- he won't tell me and I wouldn't ask- this device, and was also given a set of blueprints by someone very, very high-up from Expedition Command. Intelligence Services was given the funds by High Command to construct the device using the blueprints, and now, three years later, we have the Demeter." The artifacts winked out and the model of the Demeter's body expanded to fill the board.

"From what we've been able to test, the final body of the Demeter is made out of a self-repairing metal. The hull has roughly the same, if slightly higher strength than what we use on the majority of our starships. Observe." A recording popped up of an engineering team firing several massive ship-mounted guns at a single spot of the Demeter; the barrage eventually punched a hole in the side of the ship after a minute or two concentrated fire. The footage then switched to time-lapse, and over the course of an hour the hole simply sealed itself shut, looking as spotless as it had before the testing. "It's a useful property to have, save on costs, et cetera, but ultimately the repair functions of the ship don't operate fast enough to upgrade the ship's combat class. The Demeter is not indestructible." The hologram then was replaced by a shipyard cmaera's view of the Demeter during its construction; no decks were present, and the original, all-black frame of the ship was still visible. A hexagon-covered Ark Engine sat in the very centre of the ship, and engineers worked frantically to reinforce the engine's shielding.

"The Demeter is not indestructible. However, the Demeter is very, very, very good at running from combat. In fact, the Demeter is the first true stealth-ship in our fleet." She watched as the room filled with angry muttering before cutting the assembled crew off with a swipe of her hand. "I know. I get it. Stealth in space is a lie. I understand that. Fortunately for us, the Precursors didn't get the message." The view of the ship's interior suddenly pulsed blue-white, and the entire ship disappeared., before the the pulse reversed and the ship reappeared with the engineers alternately huddling together in fear or clearly vomiting in their helmets. "Eight years ago, while fitting the ship with an Ark Engine, the Demeter disappeared from the shipyard. Three hours later, it reappeared exactly where it had been previously with its engineering crew mostly intact, although the seven engineers who left the engine room the explore the unfinished sections of the ship did not return, and have been missing since."

The room remained silent.

"Since then, IS has worked closely with several other branches of the military and brought in the finest minds, organic and synthetic, that we could find. We came to the conclusion that the Demeter's frame interacts with Ark Engines- or, at least, the technology we reverse-engineered into Ark Engines- and dumps the ship in, for lack of a better term, an "alternate space" similar to shifting into Phase. Four more years of daily testing resulted in us realizing the potential of the Demeter as a scout ship. The Demeter can't fire its weapons or launch troops, since everything launched past a small sphere of influence surrounding the Demeter while it's in "stealth" just disappears, but the ship is certainly capable of moving around and observing its surroundings. The potential also exists to telefrag objects, as shown here." The feed cut to a cage with a several pig carcasses placed inside a yellow marking on a hangar floor, with a much larger outline showing the Demeter's size. The Demeter suddenly warped back into the hangar, displacing the cage with an audible screech; a shower of metal shrapnel and pig bits exploded off of the ship and all over the hangar. "You'll understand, of course, that the engineering team has been hesitant to continue this line of testing," ED noted, smirking.

Of course, all this is excellent, and we managed to overhaul the interior with the assistance of the blueprint we received, but that still left a serious problem: without an Ark Engine, the ship has no way of entering or exiting FTL. We tried placing the Demeter inside a carrier, but the Demeter just warped out of real-space the moment the other ship's Ark Engine spun up for FTL. Testing continued for the next few years, but the Demeter project had its priority downgraded until three years ago, when we recovered another artifact from a Cerberus base." The linked wings appeared next to the model of the Demeter. "We found this built into a shrine that Cerberus was analyzing. I'm not actually cleared to know how we figured out what it did, although from what I could read, during testing we lost over a hundred people doing so. What I can tell you is that the wing unit appears to have been built specifically to interface with the Demeter's main body, and that it shields Ark-engine operations from the stealth-drive. Thus, the Demeter project was reactivated at the highest priority, and now we have a real space-stealth-capable ship that has FTL functionality. The Demeter may not be as heavily armed as other frigates in its class, and the wing engines don't provide as much output as we normally could manage due to space constraints, but remember: when we want to hide, we can do so with complete impunity."

Somebody raised a hand, and ED nodded. "Okay, but why deploy the ship now? Why don't we keep testing and improving it? Stealth in space is a big deal, sure, but we're shipping out with sub-optimal engines and less weapons than we should?"

"Name and rank, please," ED responded coolly.

"Private Richard Hadley, ma'am."

"Private Hadley. Thank you for bringing that up; it's an excellent segue into the mission briefing. One week ago, IS recieved an encrypted message from the 1st Vanguard of the Expeditionary Fleet."

The hologram was replaced with in imagine of some sort of clearly alien structure: a two-pronged metallic object with a rounded centre, resembling a massive tuning fork.

"The message said: 'Do any of you recognize this?'"

The room remained silent.

"Good," Captain ED said, smiling, "because if any of you had recognized an alien artifact and not reported it to your superiors already, you would be, if you'll pardon my language, in incredibly deep shit." She paused, and her expression soured. "So, all of the Precursor technology we've found has been passive. Ruins. Power sources. Technology. Lots of items that are interesting, and plenty more that are dangerous if not carefully handled, certainly- but this is the first time that we've found something that is demonstrably, well, active." ED stared at the hologram of the object and its glowing, spinning rings for a moment. "This is the first time, or at least the first time I'm cleared to know of- that anybody, Alliance or otherwise, has found an active Precursor machine. Naturally, if you'll pardon my language again, the brass is shitting itself right now, and the Expeditionary Fleet is both very excited and very, very afraid."

Jane raised a hand, and ED nodded at her. "Do we have proof that this is Precursor technology? Couldn't it be other aliens, or maybe built by, I don't know, other humans or binaries?"

ED considered the question for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't see a reason as to why you'd be right or wrong, frankly. However, in the absence of hard evidence and for simplicity's sake, we're going to assume it's Precursor tech. Regardless of who built it, it leaves us in a difficult situation. The EF have been working on this non-stop, and from what they've been able to figure out it's some sort device that facilitates travel. That core in the middle doesn't correspond to any known element, nor does it seem to match any of the Precursor materials we've found so far. Nobody on the Vanguard teams has been able to figure out how to shut the thing off, or work out how long it's been on for. A Doctor Kenson noted that the Science Teams were unable to damage the artifact or take any samples, but they've made an approximate guess as to the age of this thing by testing the dust around the artifact, then around nearby planets. We're looking at this artifact- most likely- being well over fifty-thousand years old."

The room filled with excited muttering; somebody whistled. ED let the crew talk amongst themselves for a moment, then cut them off again. "In any case, this leaves us with a huge problem. Assuming this machine lets allows for long-distance- I'm talking, say, more FTL jumps than a ship normally can do without refuelling or recharging- that means we've got to worry about hostile forces using it. The fact that we don't know the details about who's used this thing means anybody could have passed through here. What if it's regularly used by Cerberus forces, both for troop transit and as a means to hide their base of operations? If we hadn't found it, it'd make sense that we've never been able to find them. Even worse, what if the Precursors are still out there, and this was recently activated? Are we looking at friendly first contact, or hostile incursion?" ED frowned and leaned on the holo-board's railings, and sighed. "The fact is, we don't know much of anything, and with a name like Intelligence Services, not knowing anything is bad news." She looked up, and stood straight. "Crew of the Demeter, your orders are as follows! Our job is to meet up with the 1st Vanguard of the Expeditionary Fleet as fast as possible, and to ensure their operations go smoothly. If anything goes haywire, our job is to retreat and inform the rest of the Alliance about the situation. And," ED continued, eyes wild, "if that device leads somewhere, our job is to sneak in and take a look around."

The room erupted into outright shouting; ED banged on the railing until the room went mostly quiet. "Alright! Listen up. Many of you are new to the IS; normally you'd receive extensive training at HQ over the course of a year, but we're leaving tonight so that's a no-go. Instead, we have four sim units hooked up where you'll each receive one-to-two time dilated training for an hour; synthetic crew will be instructed during their normally-allotted rest shift. Luckily, all of you were selected for your skill and proficiency, so I doubt any of you will have difficulty learning as you go. Crew manifest is available at any of the offline terminals- feel free to ask them if you have any questions. I'm pinging all team leads right now; everyone else, you have some free time to familiarize yourself with the ship, your crewmates and the operation of the ship. Helmsman Goldstein, the doors, please."

Jane watched as the lights in the CIC reset, and the security hatches unsealed from the elevators and doors. Most of the crew filed out of the room, leaving only a few members behind. ED waited until the last of the personnel had either left the CIC or assumed their positions at terminals nearby. "Thank you for waiting- I'll skip the icebreakers. Miranda Lawson serves as my Executive Officer. Greg Adams is our Chief Engineer; Mirembe Osei is the Gunnery Officer. Samantha Traynor is Chief Signals Officer, and Steve Cortez is our Quartermaster and Procurement Specialist. Lastly, Jane Shepard and KN-6D1687 are in charge of Combat Operations. I expect you will all be working closely with one another- I'm counting on you all." ED sat down at a nearby console. "Frankly, I'm not sure what to expect on this; none of the Demeter's crew, myself included, expected to be shipping out for at least another year or two. We've got a lot to do, so work smart and work fast. I'm always available if you have any questions." She looked up. "Are there any questions?"

Nobody said anything.

"Good. Lawson, with me. Adams, Osei, Traynor, start prepping for launch. Cortez, have you and your team check our manifest again- I don't want to be four days out and find out we don't have enough food. Shepard, KN, find your teams and do your thing- I won't presume to know infantry fights better than a Pilot and her Titan. Dismissed."


	6. 2-3: TRANSIT

**CHAPTER 3: "TRANSIT"**

 **AIS ESF DEMETER SR-1**

 **IN TRANSIT FROM AIS HQ TO [LOCATION CLASSIFIED]**

 **July 4th, 462 Freeport**

"All personnel, please ensure you've got a firm grip on something and stow any loose liquids or containers in case of an unexpected disturbance. We'll be setting off easy today, six-jump sequential. Systems online, clear green, capacitors ready. Here we go. Jumping in five, four, three, two, one, mark."

"Lights are green, exit clear. Alright, we're good. Captain?"

"Thank you, Helmsman. Crew, we've got to recharge the Ark Engines and refuel the ship; we're en route to an IS safe-station to refuel and top up our supplies. Only personnel from Lieutenant Cortez's supply teams are permitted to leave the ship. Please continue your regular duties. That is all."

Shepard let go of the railing she had been holding onto and sat down at the mess hall's main table. "Hey, Gardner, how the fuck are you dealing with this? I've got augments coming out of my ass and I can barely stand five jumps."

The older man standing in the Mess Hall's cooking station shrugged, and retrieved a pot of something from the fridge, placing it back onto the stove. "Takes a couple decades, but you get used to it," he said, shrugging. "Now get out of my workspace- don't you have people to be training?"

KN, downloaded into a humanoid chassis, rumbled with laughter. "Petty Officer Gardner is correct, Shepard. Come on, I know what'll make you feel better," he said, offering a hand to Jane. "You get to go beat up some grunts!"

Jane grumbled as she took KN's hand and got up. The pair made their way over to the main elevator, got in, and descended two decks, getting out at the hangar bay. The ship's combat teams were standing around an corner of the hangar where a makeshift gym had been set up, along with several mats and equipment lockers. Shepard and KN walked over to the group; they all stopped milling about and snapped to attention. "At ease," Jane said, shaking her head. "I already told you, you don't need to salute. Technically speaking I'm not in your chain of command."

"Pilot Shepard, ma'am, it's still an honour to be serving with you," one of the Marines, Abishek Pakti, said proudly.

"Well I'm not going to stop you from being formal- just remember it's unnecessary." Jane watched as KN leaned against a nearby wall, and grinned. "Alright! We did basic fitness and marksmanship testing on the 2nd. Yesterday was some work in the sims. Today we start training for real." Shepard walked over to one of the equipment lockers and popped its hatch open, revealing a variety of weapons, each one painted uniformly in a bright neon-orange. "I know all of you have seen active combat- how many of you have faced off against a Pilot?" One of the soldiers raised a hand, and Jane nodded. "Crosby, right?"

The man stepped forward, got halfway into a salute, then stopped himself. "Yes ma'am. PFC Silas Crosby."

"Crosby, please describe facing off against a Pilot."

"I, yeah. So we- my squad- were deployed on Atticus to clear some bandits out of a military installation. Turns out it wasn't just run-of-the-mill pirates like we were told- those bastards had hired a few Apex mercs." He paused, composed himself, and continued. "Right. So me and six other troops are in a long corridor with offshoots into other hallways when we see the Pilot- we got the drop on the guy, so we figured we'd be fine. Everyone took aim and fired, and the bastard rockets into the ceiling feet first somehow using his jump pack and sprints towards us, on the ceiling. We tried taking him out but he kept switching angles, running on the walls and sliding and going back onto the ceiling, and I'm talking fast. Real fast. Coulda sworn we tagged him a few times but the guy just keeps running. We started falling back, and I got lucky with an arc grenade; the thing went off right in his face. We retreated while the guys was stunned for a few seconds, sealed an emergency hatch, and ran as fast as we could until we got into an elevator. Once we linked up with the rest of the troops we set up a defensive line a couple hundred meters away from the elevator entrance and waited- but we didn't see the guy again. Still lost three guys, too."

Jane nodded, and stared off into the distance. "Crosby, you did good. I don't think you should chalk it up entirely to luck- you've got a good throw, and great reflexes." She turned back to the assembled soldiers, and sat down on a nearby weapons crate. "Crosby here did the smart thing: fighting retreat. Nine times out of ten, if you see a Pilot, your best hope for survival is to hope the enemy doesn't notice you, or ignores you. If you've got an enemy Pilot gunning for you, run, but do not turn your backs." Jane stripped down to her undersuit, then got up, ran over to KN's Titan chassis, hopped inside the cockpit, and retrieved her jump kit. She hooked it into her waist, and rocketed back down to the other soldiers. "Turning your back on a Pilot means dying, period. Most of you could probably do what, 45 or so kph with you gear on at a full sprint, right? A Pilot with a jump kit, running at what we'd call a combat advance- not sprinting, but not just running- can do 50 kph. At full sprint on the ground, we're pushing 55kph depending on how augmented the Pilot you're facing is. And if you're looking at a pilot with purpose-build high-speed legs, that can go as high as 65 to 70. With our jump kits," Shepard continued, patting the pack sitting on her lower back, "we can fling ourselves at upwards of 80kph around the battlefield. I believe the speed record set by a Pilot with a standard-issue kit is 95kph. This isn't even getting into the fact that standard-issue for all Alliance Pilots- and you can be damn sure any merc or Cerberus Pilot will have'em too- are mag-gloves and mag-boots that let us run along walls for as long as our legs hold out, slide along walls using our hands and use ceilings as viable traversal surfaces without any issue.

The soldiers just stared at her.

"Exactly. You're not going to outrun a pilot if that pilot has an unobstructed path to you. Your job, then, is to fill that pathway with as much shit as possible. Bullets. Lasers. Explosives. Pilots aren't immortal- in fact, I nearly died because a half-dead Spectre grabbed my leg while I was doing a jump. Lost my arm, and if I'd been a few centimetres ahead I would have had my head crushed beneath several tons of rock. But let's say you're in trouble and there's a Pilot right next to you." Jane took out several of the neon-orange handguns and rifles, and began handing them out to the soldiers. "You all know how to use the trainer stunners, right?" She waited until every soldier had one, and turned to them. "You've all got the next, uh, lemme see-" she paused to check the hangar booking schedule on her HUD- "three hours to land a shot on me. We'll take breaks every hour."

* * *

 **AIS ESF DEMETER SR-1**

 **IN TRANSIT FROM AIS SAFE-STATION "ALEXANDER" [LOCATION CLASSIFIED] TO AIS SAFE-STATION "OSIRIS" [LOCATION CLASSIFIED]**

 **July 7th, 462 Freeport**

Jane looked up from her dinner to find Captain ED exiting the elevator and walking into the mess hall; she and Kenneth both stood up and stood at attention. "At ease, Pilot, Titan." The two relaxed, and she pulled up a chair with them. "I've just been doing my daily rounds- wanted to check in with you two and see how things are going."

Shepard finished chewing her food, and cleared her throat. "They're going well, ma'am. The troops are improving greatly, and we've also been going over simulated drills to repel boarders."

"Oh?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm not willing to rely solely on the ship to keep us safe, and speaking from experience shipboard combat is, well, chaotic. Some of the crew have been joining our daily training sessions during their free time. My goal is to have the entire crew run through at least a few drills, especially given the rather unorthodox layout of the ship. If that's not possible, at the very least we can work on improving the overall readiness of the crew."

"I believe that's an excellent idea, Pilot- let me see if I or XO Lawson can integrate that into the shift schedules. Speaking of which, how has the Intelligence Services crash course been going?"

"It's, uh, been alright. XO Lawson says that I've got a lot of the basics like OPSEC, stealth and surveillance down thanks to Pilot training. She also says that I have an excellent grasp on dealing with and manipulating people- buried underneath a lot of Pilot mannerisms I need to un-learn."

ED cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Apparently hanging out with this guy-" Jane nodded her head towards KN, who shrugged- "and other Pilots doesn't do good things for being, well, non-threatening. Turns out doing nothing but shooting people or training to shoot people for two years straight doesn't do good things to your social skills." KN snorted; Shepard tossed an empty juice carton at him.

KN let out a mechanical sigh, and picked up the carton from the floor. "She's not wrong, Captain. I've been running the tests with XO Lawson; Shepard and I are both very good at being blunt, loud, and generally scary. I believe the phrase she used was that we had to "learn how to make deals with people instead of dealing with people." Still, she said we have potential to both be excellent field agents."

"That's very high praise, coming from her," ED said, smiling. "She's not known for being affable, or for handing out praise easily. If she said you were barely acceptable and showed only a little promise, I'd take that to mean you were doing fine. But you've gotten her to be nice- so take that as a major compliment."

Jane looked at KN, and scratched her head idly. "I suppose. It's certainly a change of pace. If you don't mind me asking, actually, do many Pilots and Titan-grade AIs join up, or apply to join up with the IS, Captain?"

ED's eyes shifted from solid to flashing green as she ran through her memory banks, then rested her head on a hand as her eyes returned to normal. "As it turns out, not many do, Pilot. Of course, it could be that Pilots and Titans who do join end up in deniable operations and other things I don't have access to- but my clearance is quite high and I'm not seeing that many." She paused for a moment, humming quietly before continuing. "Perhaps it's as you said. A lifetime- or what seems like a lifetime, I imagine- training in honing yourself into perfect weapons of war doesn't leave one excited to sift through days of surveillance footage or endless amounts of paperwork and intelligence documents."

KN and Shepard both grimaced and groaned at the same time. "In the last two years I can proudly say neither Shepard or I have touched paperwork once."

ED chuckled. "Well, if you do decide to stay with us, you'd better ask Miranda for some tips, because believe me: there is a lot of it. It's bad enough for binaries like you and me, KN- we can only automate so much of it. Miranda tells me it's much, much worse for humans."

Jane sighed. "No offense, Captain, but you're not selling this very well."

"I don't know you that well," ED said, shrugging slightly, "but I have a small itch in my chassis that tells me you'll be a perfect fit somehow."

* * *

 **AIS ESF DEMETER SR-1**

 **IN TRANSIT FROM AIS SAFE-STATION "SUNLIGHT" [LOCATION CLASSIFIED] TO AIS SAFE-STATION "FRONTLINE" [LOCATION CLASSIFIED]**

 **July 12th, 462 Freeport**

"Come on, people, again! Guns up, one shot, reload, one shot, reload. Three, two, one, go!"

Jane and KN watched as various non-combat crew members of the Demeter ejected magazines from their orange trainer-rifles, and reloaded them, then repeated the process.. Once finished, KN stepped forward.

"Tucks, if you're not planning on keeping the magazine, you don't need to grab it when you eject it. All the weapons you've got access to onboard- and most Alliance small arms- drop mags freely. Bakari, Lowe, there's nothing wrong with charging the gun instead of hitting the bolt release, but make up your mind. Don't switch to another method mid-reload unless you have to. Draven, if you're going to power-stroke your handgun, don't ride the slide. More likely to jam that way. And Greico?"

"Yeah?"

"Unless you're trying to hit the person next to you, stop trying to flip your mag out of your gun. It looks stupid."

"Sorry, KN."

"Don't be sorry- just stop doing whatever it is you're trying to do. Everyone else, not bad. Remember, speed is pointless if you mess up. One more time. Guns up, one shot, reload. Three, two, one, go!"

The pair watched the assembled crew run through the drill once more; once they had finished, Jane rapped a nearby wall. "Nice work, guys, lots of improvement across the board. Stow your gear- everything's gotta be locked up today."

The crew began dissipating their weapons' charges and unloading them into the storage lockers; one of them raised a hand. "Hey, Pilot! We gonna get the scores?"

Jane motioned to KN. Kenneth turned one of the hangar walls and activated a holo display, which read as follows:

 _CT VS PILOT-TITAN_

 _DAY TEN: UPDATED TOTAL HITS_

 _COSBY: 3_

 _PAKTI: 2_

 _LAFLAMME: 1_

 _FELAWA: 1_

 _JENKINS: -2_

The hangar filled with various whoops and cheers; several members of the crew exchanged various goods or tapped their credit chits. "Alright, come on, ten minutes to clean up here and get topside," shouted Jane. "Briefing's at 1500, and I'm not gonna explain to XO Lawson why you guys are late."

The crew began packing their equipment away at a frenzied pace, and five minutes later Jane and KN's makeshift training grounds were entirely packed away, leaving the hangar floor clear again. The pair waited for the crew to make their way back to the main deck using all three elevators, then followed the group to the second deck and entered the CIC.

All personnel, a reminder that a crew-wide briefing begins in five minutes, Agent Lawson's voice said over the ship's comm. Attendance is mandatory.

The CIC was once again full of folding chairs, most of them filled; once KN and Jane sat down, the only people the two could see were missing were the members of the engineering team- and they sprinted in a few minutes later. Miranada, ED, and Helmsman Goldstein emerged from the cockpit, and the CIC's boards lit up, this time with a model of the Precursor artifact, a planet, and a cluster of ships in the area.

"Thank you for being punctual," Captain ED noted. "We are on time to arrive at our last stop before we make the jump to the artifact- the IS safe-station 'Frontline,' at the edge of known Alliance space. The Demeter should arrive around 1800; you'll all be permitted an two hours of leave while the ship resupplies. I should warn you, though, that as a frontier station there's not a whole lot in the way of entertainment. I am told, though, that to compensate the crew of the station for being placed in the middle of nowhere their supply of premium rations are much higher than regulations would normally dictate, and their mess staff are very, very good at turning their supplies into excellent meals."

Miranda stepped forward, crossing her arms. "Let me remind you that your excursion ends as soon as those two hours are up, and that the crew of this ship resumes active operations the second the last person re-boards the ship. Anybody who decides to return intoxicated will face non-judicial punishment."

The entire CIC filled with muted muttering and grumbling, though the crew returned to silence a moment later as Captain ED simulated clearing her throat loudly. "I understand that most of you have been cooped up on board for more than a week, but this mission requires us to all be able to operate at our fullest capacity at all times. Allow me to assure you that, once we are in safe territory celebrations will be in order. Until then, it is imperative we remain vigilant. I trust all of you understand that."

The room murmured in assent.

"Good." ED moved towards to the CIC's holoboard, and gestured towards it. "We received a message from the Vanguard fleet earlier today; here, we can see the artifact and the closest nearby planet, currently designated as 'Unknown Planet Vanguard One.' The Vanguard fleet is currently split between investigating the planet and the artifact, and has an updated report that they'll brief us on in full once we arrive there early tomorrow morning. In short, however, the fleet's science teams are fairly certain that their second hypothesis, that the device is a weapon of some sort, is incorrect, and that the prevailing theory is correct- that the artifact is either an engine or a device that facilitates long-range travel. Our mission remains the same, otherwise. Dismissed."

The crew returned to their stations; Jane and KN found themselves with the Combat Team once again in the mess hall.

"Pilot Shepard, KN, what're you guys up to?" asked PFC Pakti, looking up from a card game the she and several other soldiers were playing.

KN rolled his eyes. "Nothing. We tried to bother Cortez into letting us run around his hangar for exercise but he politely told us to leave, since he has to prep for restock." The android found an empty chair and sunk into it. "I've exhausted all of my media, the ship-board library, and I've been through the armory more times than I care to count. I'm bored."

Jane laughed as she sat down next to him, and patted his back. "Hurry up and wait, right? Come on, how are you not used to this?"

"I am. I don't have to like it," KN grumbled. He consulted his clock, and groaned. "Another two hours. Great."

"You could come play with us," another soldier, Richard Jenkins said, holding up his hand of cards.

"No offence, Jenkins, but I don't find the idea of beating all of you fun," Kenneth replied, tapping his metal head. "Maybe I'll go shut down until we arrive."

"No can do," Miranda's voice noted, as she rounded the corner between the elevator and the mess hall. "No such thing as spare time. Jane, you too. You two are going back into the sims for at least an hour."

The pair groaned and got up, bleakly following Miranda into the main elevator.

* * *

 **AIS ESF DEMETER SR-1**

 **IN TRANSIT FROM AIS SAFE-STATION "FRONTLINE" [LOCATION CLASSIFIED] TO [LOCATION CLASSIFIED]**

 **July 13th, 462 Freeport**

"Crew, this is Helmsman Goldstein. This one's gonna be a bit nasty, so if you get jump-sick please take a suppressant or something. As usual, please stow any loose liquids or containers; please also ensure you're buckled in or clipped to a rail. Plotting jump; capacitors green. Thirty-six jump sequential ready. Drives online, jumping in one minute. Standby."

Jane looked out of the cockpit of KN's empty chassis and watched as KN stowed his android body in the small cradle at his Titan chassis' feet; she buckled herself into the cockpit, ripped open a small bag next to her seat and quickly read the bag.

 _Gel Suppressant, Nausea (Jump-Induced). Take two capsules before jump. Active ingredients begin working in ten seconds. Effective for up to ten minutes. Common side effects include stomach cramps, gastro-intestinal discomfort, and liquid stool. Overdose is impossible, but will aggravate side effects._

Jane took eight of the green pills.

"Jump in thirty, hold on tight, people."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, maaa-"

Goldstein's voice stretched into a long echo as the Demeter's Ark Engines howled to life and the air was filled with the telltale screams of space-time being ripped apart.

 ** _Only screaming, forever. An infinity of whispering. Space and time bleeding into and out of each other._**

Instead of the usual wave of calm that hit after dropping out of FTL, there was only an overwhelming feeling of vertigo. Shepard could only close her eyes, panting; the next time she opened her eyes, she vomited straight out of the cockpit and all over the hangar's floors; KN's head popped into the cockpit. "Pilot! Jane, you alright? You were, uh, screaming for a second there." He gestured out of the cockpit towards the grey-brown streak on the hangar floor. "Also, that."

Jane closed her eyes and took a deep, long, breath before opening them again. "Twelve jumps, and I nearly threw up. Not surprised more than double that did me in." She paused, and groaned as she picked up her bag of pills. "What the hell? These things didn't work at all, and I even took quadruple the recommended amount."

KN snorted. "Hey, they don't call Pilots juice-hogs for nothing. Come on, I'll help you out- we gotta clean up that mess before Cortez finds out or we'll be on his shit list." He waited as Jane unbuckled herself, then helped her out of the cockpit and down the side of his Titan chassis, and eased her into a sitting position on the hangar floor. Jane simply sat and took several long, steadying breaths.

"Fuck," she said, with great feeling.

"Fuck is right," Steve Cortez said, coming out of the elevator and entering the hangar. "Why'd you puke on my floor, Pilot?"

KN glared at him. "Give her a minute, alright?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as rude," he said, walking over to the pair. "You alright? I've heard of people getting sick from jumps but I've never seen anyone, uh, react this badly," he said, jerking his head at the long trail of sick that extended from the floor beneath KN's chassis.

Jane got up uneasily. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good. I'll take care of that in a second."

"No need," Cortez replied warmly. "I'll take care of it- maybe get yourself to the infirmary, make sure you're all good."

"Board is green, FTL exit complete. Apologies for the rough exit, but we're in the clear", Helmsman Goldstein said over the ship's comm. "We're proceeding at sublight; ETA on linkup with Vanguard is about thirty minutes. Condition Three in ten minutes, people."

KN followed Jane as she got into the ship's main elevator, went up a deck, and passed by the empty mess hall and entered the infirmary. "Dr. Chakwas," Jane called, "you in here?" Another door leading further into the infirmary unsealed, and Karin Chakwas, the ship's Chief Medical Officer, unbuckled herself from a safety chair and rushed into the main room. "Pilot Shepard, KN, what's the matter?"

"Pilot Shepard just threw up all over the hangar floor," Kenneth said. "We just wanted to make sure everything's alright."

"Well, have a seat on one of the beds," Dr. Chakwas replied, opening a nearby locker. She pulled out a glove, put it on, and sealed it around her wrist before moving over to Jane and putting a hand on her bare neck. A few moments later, she took her hand off, and tossed the glove into a nearby wall-mounted box marked "Not Sanitized."

"So, how's it look, doc? I'm already feeling a lot better," Jane said. "Though I took a bunch of nausea suppressants and they didn't work."

"I saw that," the doctor replied, unlocking the restraints on her office chair nearby and sitting down on it. "They appear to have done their job- not as well as they normally do, given your augments, mind you. Jump-sickness isn't common, but it's not unheard of."

Jane groaned as she got off the bed, and rubbed at her forehead. "Kenneth also says I was screaming or something?"

"You were," KN replied. "Right before we dropped back into regular space you just started screaming, real loud."

Dr. Chakwas snapped up. "Now hold on, that's absolutely not normal. Was it from pain or discomfort?"

"I don't know," Jane said, scratching her head. "I don't really remember anything once the first jump began, and the first thing I remember after we dropped was throwing up."

Karin murmured to herself as she turned on her terminal, and pulled up several files before quickly scanning them, then closing them. "Well, I'm not sure what to tell you, Pilot. This hasn't happened before, has it?"

"The biggest jump I've ever been through was twelve," Jane said, shrugging. "Still felt like throwing up, but I was good otherwise."

"Hmm." Karin stared at her terminal and then looked back at Jane. "You're the first case I've ever heard of anybody experiencing pain or some form of trauma during a jump." She furrowed her brow and stared at the various windows on her terminal screen again, then shrugged. "Let me know if that happens again. I don't think I can help you otherwise, I'm afraid."

"Thanks anyways, Doctor," Jane said, heading back into the mess hall.

All hands, condition three. Captain and XO to the QEC. Arriving at Vanguard fleet in twenty.

The pair got back on the elevator and made their way to the third deck, and entered the Combat Team's cramped barracks. Most of the team was already dressed in combat gear, and those that weren't were already suiting up. "Pilot," one of the soldiers, Orden Laflamme said, turning to face her, "you think they'll need us?"

Jane shrugged. "They'd better not, or we're in deep shit. Nobody's supposed to be out here besides the Vanguard fleet and the Demeter. Still, if they need a QRF we're at the top of the list. Might as well get ready, just to be sure."

"Yes ma'am," Laflamme replied, as he got to work stowing his sleeping module into the wall.

"I'm going to go get suited up. Be back in a few," Jane said, as she jogged back to the elevator.

All hands, condition two. I say again, all hands, condition two. Arriving at Vanguard fleet in ten. Hangar teams, prepare for carrier landing. XO and Captain to the CIC. Gunnery teams, stand by for orders.

KN turned to Shepard as the elevator doors opened in the hangar bay, frowning. "Don't like this, Shepard. Got that itch in my chassis." 

Jane sat in KN's Titan chassis, watching the Vanguard fleet from the Demeter's external feed. The fleet consisted, from what Jane could see, of roughly six dozen ships, mostly composed of shuttles and other support craft constantly flying between two massive, boxy ships. The first, the Seeker, was easily three or four times the size of the Demeter, and looked not unlike a heavily-modified Alliance Carrier-class ship. Resting next to it was a ship that was, by Jane's estimate, at least twice as big as the Seeker; it dwarfed even the largest capital ships she'd studied, let alone seen; its massive rectangular profile resembled a Militia-class dreadnought if somebody had kept piling on extra decks, guns, and armour plates and forgotten to stop. Frontier was emblazoned in massive letters on its side, above the Vanguard fleet's emblem of the Alliance Skull, carrying a combat shovel in its teeth over the background of the orange shield of the Expedition Fleet.

The external feed shifted as the Demeter sharply decelerated, re-oriented itself towards the open hangar bay of the Frontier, and slowly drifted towards to massive capital ship. Still following the feed, Jane caught sight of the artifact, and whistled quietly; a chain of ships stretched from the artifact towards the nearest planet, with the Seeker and Frontier at the centre of the formation. The planet seemed unremarkable, on the other hand, especially with the fleet and the artifact nearby; a few shuttles flew down to the surface as the Demeter prepared to dock. The ship rumbled as Shepard's external feed was cut off and its landing clamps thudded as they locked into place. A few minutes later, the entire ship rumbled as it touched down.

"Excellent landing, Helmsman," rang Captain ED's voice over the ship comm. "Engineering, procurement, stand by for ship and inventory check as well as refueling. Signals and gunnery team, stand by. Pilot Shepard and Titan KN, you'll be joining XO Lawson and I for debrief. Thank you."

Moments later, the Demeter's belly hatch opened to reveal a massive hangar, filled with a wide variety of small grey-brown shuttles and transports, as well as a few damaged APCs and other ground vehicles. Jane slung her rail-rifle over her shoulder, checked that her sidearm was secured, then hopped out of the Titan, sealing its cockpit as she slid down its chassis with practiced ease, and waited for KN to unlock himself from his android-chassis' cradle. He nodded at her, then stood at attention with Jane as the hangar's main elevator hissed open, revealing both Miranda and Captain ED, both in dress uniform.

"At ease, you two," ED said warmly, walking towards them.

"Should we be dressed up as well?" asked KN, looking down at his unclothed military-grade chassis. "I'm afraid," he continued, pointing up at his Titan chassis, "that I only packed a single change of clothes, and it's a bit big."

If Miranda had understood it was meant to be a joke, she showed no sign. "It's fine. Out of all the branches the EF is by far the least concerned with things like dress protocol. From what I've heard, Vanguard's no different. Pilot Shepard, you, on the other hand, have a perfectly acceptable set of dress packed with you." She turned, and glared at Jane. "Unlike KN, you have no excuse to ignore protocol. Surely you've remembered your lessons." Miranda crossed her arms. "Pilot! Ship to ship meetings and debriefings, dress protocol, first lesson."

Jane stood at attention one again. "Whenever possible, dress uniform should be worn when undergoing preliminary or primary ship-to-ship meeting or debriefing to maintain a initial aura of professionalism befitting the Alliance Intelligence Services."

Miranda raised an eyebrow.

"XO Lawson, since we are in unknown and possibly hostile territory, pursuant to defence protocol under the same section, I figured it was best to remain in my fatigues in case combat is necessary to facilitate faster deployment time. Ma'am."

"And the rifle?"

"As leader of the Combat Team, seeing as any QRF deployment would no doubt involve my involvement I deemed it necessary to be as prepared as possible without being in full combat gear."

Miranda shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Bloody... alright, fine, stay in your fatigues and keep your damn rifle. Should be glad you're not kitted out for war, I suppose. Follow us and try not to shoot anything or anyone, please."

"Ma'am."

Jane relaxed and fist-bumped KN's outstretched hand, then followed behind Captain ED. They exited the ship and entered the Frontier's hangar; unlike the spartan, gleaming polish of Demeter's hangar interior, the Frontier's was brown-grey, covered in dents and the tell-tale signs of repaired areas that had taken small-arms fire. A young lieutenant in fatigues met them and saluted quickly. "I'll show you the way to the CIC," he said, and set off at a brisk pace into the belly of the ship. They passed several engineering crews repairing the many vehicles in the hangar; while most of the APCs and shuttles bore scratches and dents, one APC in particular had a massive gash on the side of its door and the gun turret was nearly torn off the APC's top, now propped up by several makeshift braces made out of metal grates.

"What happened," Jane asked, "to that APC? Hostile contact?"

"That's classified," the lieutenant replied as the group neared the hangar's elevator. "You'll be informed during the debriefing." He waited until the elevator slid open, let the four Demeter crew-members in first, then followed, hitting the elevator panel and selecting Deck 8. The elevator shot upwards, and arrived at its destination with a soft chime. The door opened, revealing a short hallway ending in several sealed hatches guarded by four soldiers. The lieutenant ushered them out of the elevator. "Through those doors, please," he said, as the elevator doors closed. The four walked over to the soldiers guarding the hatches; one of them nodded and the guards stood at attention. After a moment, one of the soldiers turned to the hatches and unsealed the central one, and stood aside.

The interior of the CIC was massive, unbelievably so, packed to near-bursting with crew; an upper level ringed with consoles and terminals, as well as a variety of other devices unknown to Jane or KN surrounded a lower level with a holoboard triple the size of the Demeter's. Projected above the holoboard was a segmented diagram of the artifact, as well as various smaller projections visible only by the swarms of staff huddled around the board. At the far end of the room, a third level housed a small podium and holoprojector, as well as a large chair in which sat a caucasian man in a Captain's uniform that looked to be roughly Miranda's age. He noticed Captain ED and her entourage, and waved them over; Jane followed along, weaving through the crowded CIC, doing her best not to bother any of the clearly-busy crew. They crossed the room and made their way to the man, who got out of his seat and offered a hand to Captain ED, who shook it.

"Captain Alec Ryder," the man said in a voice that spoke of exhaustion.

"Captain Ryder, it's a pleasure to meet you," ED said, smiling. "My XO, Miranda Lawson, and my ship's Pilot and Titan, Jane Shepard and Kenneth." Miranda, Jane and KN saluted.

"At ease," Captain Ryder said, sitting back down wearily. He took a drink from a canteen sitting on his terminal, put the canteen back down, and took a deep breath, scratching at his stubble. "Normally there'd be a lot more, how to say, fanfare, when a ship like the Demeter arrives onboard, but I'm afraid you'll have to settle for today's rushed proceedings."

"You indicated to me in your message that something happened," Captain ED said, her voice neutral. "Would you care to elaborate?"

Captain Ryder grunted in affirmation, then tapped a button on his console. "Alright. We're starting the briefing. Clearance is red three. Non-essential staff, you have a half-hour break." He waited until roughly half of the staff in the room filtered out of the hatches at the other end of the door, and nodded to an android on the second level of the CIC. "Tagak, hatches, please."

The android saluted, and their eyes flashed as security shutters sealed over the CIC's hatches.

"Crew, before we begin, I'd like to introduce you to some friends from the IS- Captain ED, XO Lawson, Pilot Shepard and Titan KN." Alec motioned to them. "They'll be assisting us and keeping an eye out for any hostiles." He got up out of his chair, made his way down to the main floor of the CIC, and turned to face the assembled crew. "I don't know how many of you know already; frankly, given the, ah, close-knit nature of our ship, I'm certain rumours have already started circulating. For the sake of protocol, however, please try and keep the following information under wraps, at least until we can figure out a plan."

Somebody raised a hand, and Ryder nodded. "What rumours?"

Captain Ryder smiled weakly, and laughed. "Well I'm glad to see OPSEC isn't entirely useless." He paused, all humour draining out of his face. "Crew, we have a problem. A big one."

He stooped to the main holo-board's terminal, and stood back up as the diagram of the artifact dissipated and was replaced with a helmet-cam recorded image of two female humanoids with ocean-blue skin and tendrils in place of hair, each naked, looking emaciated, and covered in bruises, chained to what appeared to be a cave wall.

Both had bullet holes in their heads.

"We have proof of alien life, and it's dead."


	7. 2-4: FC

**CHAPTER 4: "FC"**

The entire room erupted into a cacophony of angry- furious- shouting. Captain Ryder raised his hand for calm, but nobody seemed to notice; he had to bang on the wall several times next to the holo-board to get everyone to quiet down.

"Shut up! Everyone shut up," he said, sourly. He waited until the room's noise level had dropped to an angry, boiling murmur, and stared back at the crowd. "We've been scanning that planet for more than a week now, and two days ago one of the recon teams picked up a faint electrical and thermal signature." The image of the dead aliens was replaced with a video of the planet in question; there were only grey-black plains as far as the eye could see, with the occasional mountain range jutting out of the ground at severe angles. "UPVO's not a hospitable planet, but the atmo is breathable- barely- and the recon team investigated as soon as they got backup and the green light."

The room's lights dimmed as the feed of the planet disappeared and was replaced with first-person helmet cam footage.

* * *

"Is this thing on," the helmet wearer's gruff, deeply male voice grumbled, "or do I need to reset the- ah, here we go. Sergeant Kanu, Vanguard Recon, Third Group, Squad 2. Uh, 1320 fleet time, July 11th, 462 FP. Mission UVPO Recon-Contact One is a go." The helmet's occupant looked down to reveal the brown-grey combat gear of the Expedition Fleet and an APC with seven other soldiers in the same uniform. "Alright, you guys know the drill. Head on a swivel, don't touch anything that looks alien, don't shoot anything that looks alien, et cetera. Clear?"

"Sir," the team responded, rapping their chest rigs in response.

"Green light," the APC's driver robotic driver shouted from the cockpit.

The rear hatch of the APC hissed as it slid open, and the squad moved out of the APC, rifles at low-ready. The APC's turret scanned their surroundings at the soldiers took up positions, scanning the dusty grey-black plains and watching the similarly-coloured skies above. To the right of the APC was the only landmark in sight; a small, craggy mountain with a cave entrance in its side. Kanu moved up to the side of the cave entrance, and beckoned for the soldiers to stack up on each side of the cave. "Shark, keep that gun aimed down that hole. Rico, cam," Kanu said, and watched as on of the soldiers on the other side fiddled with his combat suit, launching a tiny drone from a pouch on his rig. The drone drifted over the cave entrance, hovered for a minute in front, then drifted back to Rico, who stuffed it back into the chest pouch he'd taken it from. "How's it look?"

Rico nodded. "Cave makes a hard right about two hundred metres in. Looks empty, otherwise. Definitely heat or other energy sources inside."

"Alright. Traps?"

"None that I could see."

Kanu grunted in response, then nodded. "Who's dead man walking this time?"

"Natalia," Shark replied from the APC over comms.

"You're up, Nat," Kanu said, and watched as a woman stacked up opposite him carefully sliced the corner of the entrance, and proceeded forward very slowly in a half-crouch, rifle raised. She made it about a hundred metres into the cave when a portion of rock at the far end of the cave before the turn slid open, revealing an emplaced gun of some sort.

Natalia dropped to the ground on her belly as the turret turned towards the cave opening. "Sharkie," she shouted, "incoming!" The turret whirred as canisters on each side of the gun barrels popped open, and with a whistling shriek a flurry of rocket-like projectiles shot out from the canisters, followed by a hailstorm of gunfire. Kanu swiveled and watched as Shark began turning the APC; the rockets barely missed the side of the APC, leaving a massive rip in its side armour; in response, Shark primed the APC's autocannon, took aim, and began firing as Natalia crawled on her belly back out of the cave underneath both the APC and her squadmates' fire. Natalia had just made it out of the cave when another barrage of rockets flared out of the cave's mouth; Shark attempted to drop the APC's turret, but was unable to lower the gun in time, and a rocket hit the attached gun with a loud bang. Still, the APC's autocannon fired once more, and the turret in the cave exploded with a blue-white crackle.

"Status," Kanu said, breathing heavily. The squad responded with muttered "clear" responses, and he turned to the APC. "Shark, you alright?"

"Fuck, that was close. Yeah," the binary responded, "I'm alright. Main gun's fucked, though."

Kanu reloaded his rifle, and sighed. "Alright. Keep an eye out, let Taxi know we've encountered hostile emplacement, possibly xeno. Make sure we've got a ride home ready to go."

"Got it, sarge."

"Alright. Who's next for dead walk?"

Natalia shook her helmeted head. "Nope. That definitely counted. I'm at the bottom of the list for at least the next two." She paused, cocking her head. "Ah, you're up, sarge."

"Fuck. Alright, slow and go. Come on." Kanu took point, rifle at the ready, slowly creeping through the tunnel, the other squad members maintaining an even dispersion behind him. They eventually walked up to the destroyed turret, and Kanu waved Rico up again. "What're we looking at? Doggos?"

Rico drew a scanner from his chest rig and placed it on the wreck of the turret, one hand still holding his rifle, and frowned. "This isn't Cerb work, sarge. The, the, uh, gun bits, they're not- the fuck is this firing mechanism? There's no internal magazine as far as I can see. The fuck is this?"

Kanu swore. "Xeno?"

"No clue, but it's nothing I've ever seen before."

"Great." Kanu paused, then shook his head. "We've got a nice cave just waiting to be explored." Kanu took point once again, and the team made their way into the cavern's depths. Thankfully, the cave was well-lit by wall-mounted lights at regular intervals, there didn't appear to be any branching paths, and despite the tension no further turrets or traps appeared. The feed skipped ahead roughly five minutes, when the team came upon a grey, sealed hatch with a single lever. The squad stacked up, and Kanu pulled the lever; there was an audible hissing noise as the hatch unsealed, revealing a large, poorly-lit room. The room- more like a small cave, really- was mostly empty, save for a few empty crates and cases scattered around the floor. Several bedrolls lay on the left side of the cave, and opposite that was a large, metal wall with a handle on one end. At the far end of the room was a simple metal hatch, cut into the floor.

"Spread out," Kanu said, "and stay alert. Rico, Lau, with me." The three stacked up neare the large metal wall, and Kanu pulled the lever. Nothing happened for a moment, but seconds later with a loud groan a section of the metal wall hissed and slid back to reveal a recessed portion of the cave, this one unlit and foul-smelling. Kanu paused as he noticed two figures slumped at the end of the recession, and raised his rifle. "Hello? Can you hear me?" He paused as there was no response, straining to see the figures from the lit filtering in from the main lights in the room. He toggled on his low-light vision, and nearly dropped his rifle in shock as he took in the sight of two clearly alien- women?- with holes in their skulls.

"Oh, fuck. Guys!" Kanu did a quick scan of the recessed area of the cave, found no traps, and rushed forward. He knelt down, examining their corpses- and they were corpses, battered, bruised, naked and clearly, if their humanoid appearance implied a remotely similar physiology, emaciated. "Guys, we are in deep fucking shit here."

One of the other soldiers swore. "Fuck, man. Alien space babes as FC and we find'em like this."

"Shut the fuck up, Loren. Doc!"

One of the soldiers rushed forward, withdrew a scanner and activated his helmet flashlight. "That's not good. Two things, sarge- these two ladies were executed point blank, but I don't recognize the bullet wound. Trauma's not consistent with any weapon I can think of," the medic said, shaking his head. "But it looks fresh. Can't have been made more than a day or two ago, I think."

"Shit. Oh, shit." Kanu scratched at his helmet, then swore a few more times for good measure. "Alright. Shark, you there?"

"Yeah, sarge, what's up?"

"Call Frontier and put me through to Captain Ryder."

"Cal- wait, what?"

"You heard me!"

* * *

The recording stopped, and Captain Ryder cleared his throat. "We sent a security detail down there to secure the area; that recording was handed to XO Tagak," he said, nodding at the suited android standing to his right. We've established small defensive line in front of that small hatch we found, and preliminary scans show it's a tunnel of some sort, no doubt leading to further into this...hideout, or base, or whatever it is. As for the aliens, we've put their bodies into quarantine and the Medical teams are sticking to non-invasive investigation. If we have to hand the bodies back to their, ah, fellow aliens, we'd really rather not hand them back in pieces. In the mean time, we figured," Captain Ryder continued, nodding at Jane and KN, "that if we're going to have to clear this space we'd better send the best we can. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, with your Captain's permission I'd like to task you and your choice of personnel with clearing out this underground facility. While these aliens are using weapons that we can counter, I'd still rather not send untrained or under-qualified soldiers up against a foe we have no experience with."

"Sir." Jane and KN said, saluting. Jane raised a hand, and Alec nodded at her. "KN and I will be happy to clear a path; the footage mentioned that the wound was inflicted recently. Assuming that these two alien women were, captured, maybe, would it be safe to assume that the perpetrators will be nearby, or on-site?"

Captain Ryder scowled. "I'd put money on it. And thank you," Captain Ryder said. "I appreciate the assistance. Captain ED?"

Captain ED nodded. "Permission granted."

"Excellent. Until we get further intel, there's not much we can do. Signals, keep an eye out for any jump signatures- if whoever did this tries to get off-planet, I want to know. Tagak, Senai, with me- I've made a speech for the rest of the crew about the FC and I need a second opinion. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, you remember the way back to the hangar?"

"Yes sir," both responded.

"Excellent. Gear up, grab your crew, and meet back in the hangar once you're ready." Captain Ryder stared bleakly at the image of the two dead aliens which was once again on the holo-board. "Dropship'll bring you down to the LZ and hopefully we can unfuck this situation before it gets any worse. We'll brief you on-site but the short version is- try not to kill anyone. Sargent Kanu will be with you- he'll help if you have any questions. Move."

Jane and KN both saluted Captain Ryder; Captain ED and XO Lawson nodded at them, and the two took off at a jog back towards the ship's main elevator as the CIC's centre security hatch unsealed. After a quick elevator ride, they arrived back in the hangar and sprinted back onto the Demeter, ignored Steve Cortez's confused greeting, and went up a deck to the Combat Team's barracks. Jane opened the door to find the entire team in full combat gear; most of them were checking their rigs and examining their weapons.

"Hey, Pilot," PFC Crosby said, looking up from his rail-rifle. "We got a mission?"

KN shook his head. "Yeah, but it's pretty ugly. FC, but the aliens are dead." The Combat Team began muttering and swearing quietly amongst themselves; KN let them continue for a few seconds before cutting them off. "Jane and I are going to kit up. Brass wants us to try and stay non-lethal, so grab some stun ammo, maybe skip the frags. Final check, take a leak, do what you need to do. Meet us in the hangar." The team began to stow away their loose gear and check their equipment as KN and Jane ran back to the elevator, and found both Cortez and a bald, dark-skinned man they'd never meet before waiting for them.

"Hey," Steve said, waving the pair over. "Been talking with Usul here- he needs to have a word with you. You guys going hot?"

"Yeah," Jane replied, turning to Usul. "Pilot Jane Shepard, this is Titan KN," she said, turning to the other man and offering a hand.

"Usul Ishiwatari, Combat Supply Ops for the Frontier," the man said, shaking Jane's hand. "I understand you'll be engaging in some up-close infantry fighting, but if you'd like I can have KN's Titan chassis on standby for titanfall."

"I'd appreciate that," KN said, nodding. "I don't expect to be using it, but it wouldn't hurt to be ready."

"Excellent," Usul said, pointing to an empty drop chute in the corner of the Frontier's hangar. "Park it in there and we'll prep it just in case." He turned, nodded to Cortez, then took off at a sprint towards the Demeter's belly ramp.

"Haven't touched any of your stuff, "Cortez said, returning to his console, "but let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks," the pair responded. Jane ran up to her and KN's section of the hangar, popped open her equipment locker, and pulled out her gear case; with practiced ease she stripped down to her combat undersuit, plugged her jump kit into her waist, pulled on her Pilot suit, clipped her helmet to her belt, and checked the seals on her chest rig. KN simply walked into his infantry-chassis cradle, and waited as armour plates, spare batteries and a full-body rig loaded with weaponry and ammunition were installed directly into his body. KN stepped out, charging cable still attached, flexed his arms and legs, then scratched at his metal head. "How do you wanna do this, Shep? Don't think your usual marksman thing is gonna work this time." He paused, then turned to his Titan chassis as the charging cable popped out of his back and snaked back into its holster. "I'll prep my Titan chassis- you just get your guns sorted." KN fired a grappling hook from his left arm, and flung himself directly into the open cockpit, while Jane shut her gear case, and pulled a weapon rack out of her locker. She stared intently at the rack for several seconds, then began grabbing weapons from it. As usual, her HUD displayed small readouts in the bottom right as she took hold of the weapons and began holstering and clamping them to her body.

Mastiff-P -IS Bullpup Autoshotgun w/ Adjustable Choke, Dual Magazines. Shells: Arc (Nonlethal), Shard (Lethal). B12-R Wingman Rail-revolver. Smart Pistol -R Semi-Automatic Rail Handgun w/ Smart Targeting. Arc Grenades. Electronic Countermeasure Explosives. Gravity Stars.

Satisfied with her weapons, she stuffed her rig full of spare shells, revolver cylinders and handguns magazines, slid the weapon rack back and shut the locker. She watched as KN parked his Titan chassis in one of the Frontier's drop-chutes, then waited for him to sprint back into the Demeter's hangar. The two checked each other's gear for a moment, before the elevator opened, revealing the eight-member Combat Team. They ran over to Shepard and KN; they gave the team a quick examination, and once satisfied, took off at a jog back down the Demeter's belly ramp and into the Frontier's hangar once more. They were met by two of the Frontier's soldiers wearing all-brown gear; Jane recognized them as members of the recon team she'd watched earlier. The two soldiers unsealed their helmets, revealing two men; one old, with dark brown skin; the other was a younger, pale-skinned man. The older man saluted sharply, then kicked the younger one- who saluted in turn with far less excitement. "Sergeant James Kanu, Corpsman Isaac Frost, reporting for duty, Pilot."

Jane nodded at the two. "It's good to have you with us. Where's our ride?"

"Over there, ma'am," Frost said, jerking his head at a weather-worn dropship bearing the Vanguard emblem , its brown paint almost completely scratched off, revealing the metal beneath. "XO Tagak is on board- he'll brief us." The assembled group made their way to the dropship as its rear hatch unsealed, and an android in fatigues with human-like features similar to Captain ED's- if rather less feminine and more androgynous- waved at them. The group made their way aboard, seated themselves, and watched the hatch shut behind them.

"We're clear, Helmsman," Tagak said, knocking on the door leading to the cockpit.

"Understood," replied the binary, and the dropship retracted its landing clamps, and took off. Tagak watched out of the cockpit as the dropship entered the airlock, waited for the doors to cycle, then took off at full speed towards UVPO, dodging the other ships in the Vanguard fleet.

The dropship shot through a cleared lane in the traffic, made its way into UVPO's orbit, then did a quick jump to skip re-entry; a few minutes later, the ship clamped onto a makeshift landing pad several hundred metres from the cave where the recon team had found their first contact. A small defensive perimeter was being set up around the mouth of the cave; from the dropship's window Jane could see a few dozen engineers assembling pre-fab bunkers, barracks and gun emplacements, as well as a long-range transmitter. The dropship's rear hatch light switched to green, and Jane re-checked her helmet seal before hitting the hatch release button, letting it open and jumped down onto UVPO's grey-brown ground. The rest of the dropship's passengers followed suit and the combined crew jogged towards the cave's entrance. Several engineers paused in their work to look XO Tagak, as well as Jane and KN; most, however, remained busy with their work. The original alien wall lights inside the cave were all removed, and had been replaced with utilitarian field floodlights; Expedition Fleet scientists, all armed at minimum with a sidearm, were scattered throughout the tunnel, taking rock samples and checking handheld scanners. The grey, airtight hatch leading into the "hall" of the cave was already unsealed, and a large gun emplacement was aimed straight down the cave tunnel. A helmeted soldier sitting next to the gun emplacement noticed the assembled team, waved the group over, stood up, and saluted.

"Lance Corporal Nirali," the woman said, "reporting to deliver briefing."

XO Tagak nodded back. "At ease. Go ahead."

The soldier escorted the team over to the metal hatch, which itself had no less than six gun emplacements aimed squarely at it. "There's not much to say, XO. We've sent a few micro-drones through the cracks in the hatch. The hatch opens into an 15-foot drop before hitting solid ground; there's a metal ladder that looks fairly sturdy on the far side of the hole. It's fairly well-lit in the tunnels, and it looks like there are a couple of branching paths, some of which are dead ends and some of which have small supply stockpiles. There doesn't seem to be anybody down there, although at the far end of the tunnel system we did find another door. Airtight- couldn't get the drones through. I have a copy of the automap data." Nirali pulled a small black cylinder from her chest rig, and passed it to Tagak, who in turn plugged it into their own chest. Tagak waited for a moment, eyes flashing, then passed out similar cylinders to the assembled members of the reconnaissance team.

"Thank you, Lance Corporal," Tagak said, eyes returning to normal. "The recon team will take it from here." Nirali nodded then returned to the gun emplacement aimed down the tunnel; Tagak turned to the team and sighed. "Your job is simple- get into that tunnel system, see what's down there and where it goes. You all have FC training- use it. I'm not going to stop you from defending yourselves is something down there is hostile, but try and keep things non-lethal if you can. Once you clear out the first section, ping topside and we'll send some people down to recover the supplies and set up another defensive line. Questions?"

"What happens if we bag a xeno," Jane asked, "and we're not done clearing out the tunnel?"

"Ideally you'll have cleared out enough of the tunnels that it'll be easy to call down QT to have them extract xenos back topside," Tagak responded, shrugging. "Otherwise, well- you've all got restraints. And if those don't work, you'll have to improvise. Anyone else?" The android paused, and nodded solemnly when nobody answered. "Best of luck," the XO said, stepping aside from the hatch.

Jane paused as she plugged the datastick into her chest rig, and pulled the map up in her HUD. After a moment, she nodded to herself, satisfied. "Alright. Tunnels are wide enough for four across," she said. "No branches sit opposite each other; we'll clear each one at a time. KN and I take point until we hit a branch. Then you guys cover us, and we clear it out. Same goes until we hit the sealed door. From there, it's SOP: breech and creep. Gear check and get ready." Jane checked both sidearms; satisfied, she unslung her shotgun and took a deep breath. "Jenkins, Darzi, hatch, then stay up here. KN, shield drop."

KN nodded, and chambered his machine railgun. The pair backed away from the hatch and watched as Pakti and Crosby lifted the hatch open; as the hatch opened, they both fired their jump kits, rocketed in a perfect arc into the hatch, and landed feet-first in the tunnel, vortex shields primed and weapons raised. They both scanned the tunnel, and crept forward a few feet. "Clear," KN said through comms. Up top, Seargant Kanu gingerly tested the ladder, then climbed down into the tunnel.

"It's solid," Kanu said, joining Jane and KN. "Move."

Each remaining member of the team quickly clambered down the ladder and regrouped; once everyone was down the hatch, the group set off at a measured pace into the depths of the tunnels. The first few branches the group reached were dead ends; a few tense minutes later, Jane and KN arrived at one of the aforementioned stockpiles- really a collection of crates and loose objects. KN knelt down, scanned the goods for traps, then gingerly picked up a pouch of some sort; it was made of a material that resembled a plastic or vinyl, and had several lines of alien script on both sides. He shook the package, then carefully set it back down. "Rations, maybe?" He shrugged.

"Crates," Jane said, voice neutral.

KN popped open one of the crates; inside were several disc-shaped objects, roughly as wide as two hands placed side-by-side, as well as what looked like a pair of sidearms, and a rifle of some sort. "Small arms. Explosives?"

"Tag'em."

KN made a note in his HUD's map, then returned with Jane to the main tunnel; the group continued forward. The other branches resulted in similar finds; ultimately the group found two more stockpiles filled with various alien items of unknown purpose, as well as a makeshift barracks with three bedrolls and empty storage crates. The last branch before the air-tight hatch was another dead end, though a set of empty manacles were chained to the walls. Jane stopped in front of the next hatch, and pinged Tagak. "XO, this is Pilot Shepard."

"Pilot, this is Tagak. Go ahead."

"We've cleared the first section, standing by to enter section two. Tagged a couple of stockpiles- we could only identify the small arms."

"Any guesses on the other items?"

"Rations or medical supplies? Can't say for sure."

"Understood. Should we send down a retrieval and perimeter team?"

Jane did a quick scan of the tunnel, and looked at KN, who shook his head in return. "Negative. The only egress is the entry hatch- if we need to fall back fast, it'll already be crowded just with the ten of us down here. If you've got one on-hand, put a fast-rope down the hatch, too."

"Alright. It's your call," Tagak replied. "Tagak out."

"Stack up." Jane waited until the team was waiting and ready on both sides of the hatch, then joined KN in standing in a ready position a few feet back from the hatch. "Kanu, door."

"Three, two, one, go!"

Seargent Kanu yanked on the hatch's lever, waited until the airtight seal broke, then flung the door open; KN and Jane flung themselves through the doorway and into a kit-boosted slide into the room, guns raised. The new room was not an extension of the original tunnel as Jane had guessed; rather, it was a massive, obviously artificial cave- maybe half the size of the Demeter's hangar- and an unadorned, rectangle-shaped, shuttle-sized grey ship of unknown make sat on extended landing clamps at the far end of the cave. The room was lit with floodlights mounted on the walls; at the far end of the cave was a massive set of closed metal doors big enough to let the ship through, and to its right was a small heap of what looked like bodies. "XO, this is Pilot Shepard. Looking at a hangar of some sort- got a ship, might be xeno. Possible dead FCs," Jane said sourly.

"This is Tagak. Understood. Keep investigating."

Jane frowned, setting her shotgun to load stun rounds. "Move up." The team moved into the cave and spread out in a staggered line, weapons raised. They slowly crept towards the ship, and Jane hissed viciously as her augmented vision made out the precise details of the heap.

It was indeed a pile of bodies; maybe two dozen naked blue aliens, most with several gunshot wounds, like the ones the original recon team had originally found, dumped unceremoniously into a pile. A large patch of blue stained the floor and wall around the pile.

Jane pushed the anger out of her mind, and returned to focusing on the ship. She did a quick scan of it with her HUD, searching for an entry point around the back and sides, finally settling on a section of the ship's hull that had a small, inset handle with several written lines surrounding the handle in the same alien script she'd seen on the stockpiles. She motioned to the rest of the team to join her; the group stood around the handle for a minute without saying anything as Jane scanned the handle.

"So, uh, who's dead man?" asked Sergeant Kanu asked uneasily.

"Stack up," KN said calmly. "I'll do the door, Jane takes point. How's it look?"

Jane shrugged. "Green across. It's all yours." KN moved towards the handle as Jane stood over his shoulder, shotgun raised; the rest of the team stacked up a bit further away from the pair. "Go." KN grabbed the handle and attempted to turn and push it; when nothing happened, he pulled the handle and it slid out slightly, and with a quick half-turn clockwise a blue light began blinking on the ship's hull as a small section of the hull slid open and a ladder popped out of the open section of hull. Jane paused for a few moments, then pulled a small microdrone from her chest rig and tossed it into the newly opened section of ship; the drone's feed showed a hallway that was dimly lit- what she presumed were the main light strips on the ceiling were dark- with what appeared to be red backup lighting. She recalled the drone, stuffed it back into her rig, then backed up away from the hole in the side of the ship. "Same as before. KN and I go in first." The pair rocketed into the ship's interior, and began sweeping the hallway they landed in; satisfied that the hallway was clear of traps and sensors, they motioned at the rest of the team and watched as they proceeded up the ladder. Kanu drew a pulse blade from his belt; KN shook his head.

"If something hostile's in here, better to not let'em know we're coming," KN said, motioning for Kanu to put the tool back. He paused, cocking his head in thought. "Ship's not that big. Engines are presumably in the rear given our ingress point. Probably an airlock ahead, then the ship proper? Could split up," he said, looking at Jane, who shook her head. "Mmm. Alright. Sweep it is. Move up?"

"Yeah," Jane replied. "KN on rear, I'll take point. Eyes open." She moved away from the rear of the ship, arrived at the first door, and found a button next to the door; she pushed it, and nothing happened. She pulled what she guessed was an emergency lever on the door itself; it hissed as it opened, and the team moved into what KN had guessed was an airlock. Once through, the crew slowly crept through the red glow of the ship's cramped interior, pausing every few feet to scan the area ahead. They passed through several corridors, each empty save for the occasional sign written in the alien script. Two tense minutes later, they stepped into an actual room; what Jane surmised was a barracks of sorts- several wall-mounted protrusions that resembled beds, a three-legged table and a large, metal crate adorned the otherwise empty room. Jane motioned for the team to take up a defensive position, walked over to the crate, pulled a scanner from her chest rig and waited until it flashed green. She knelt down, looking for a latch or a button, and found a small indention on the crate's side; she put the scanner away, pulled out her data-knife and prodded the indentation. The crate unsealed with a sharp hiss, revealing a padded interior holding several translucent containers containing some sort of greyish-blue meat. She did her best not to think about the implications, shut the crate's lid, and got back up. "Not a trap," she said as neutrally as possible. "Keep moving."From the barracks, the group moved into another tiny corridor with two doors; one on the left, and one straight ahead. They stopped at the left door; KN took point as they entered the room and stopped abruptly.

The room was, like the rest of the ship, poorly lit, but its purpose was obvious.

A large metal wall with a viewing slit was pushed to one side, leaving the back half of the room exposed; several mounting brackets for chains like the ones the group had seen in the cave were attached to the far wall. The walls themselves transitioned slowly from their gunmetal grey to a dark, faded blue the further back Jane looked, and there were several small holes- for drainage- placed beneath the restraints.

Jane ignored the urge to set her shotgun to lethal.

The team left the room wordlessly; several of its members were holding their weapons much, much more tightly. KN opened the next door and the group found themselves in a cockpit; two seats were at the far end of the cockpit in front of a series of consoles. A blue-skinned alien woman was tied to the right chair; despite her tattered clothes and heavily bruised face, she was still breathing, though Jane guessed she was unconscious. Another alien, this one with a more masculine profile and wearing all-grey armour with some sort of alien firearm attached to its back, was- angrily, she guessed again- trying to fix one of the piloting consoles, alternating between scanning the assorted wires and computers with some sort of wrist-mounted tool she didn't recognize, and rooting around the tangled mess of wiring. The alien was engrossed enough in his work that he failed to notice the team entering the cockpit, and KN motioned for the team to stay back.

"A-wall," he said to Jane over comms, "over the blue one. Grav star above the grey one, we arc him, and then both do takedown?" Jane nodded in return and raised her left arm, shotgun still firmly held in her other hand. She gave a quick mental command, and a small pod slid out of her pilot suit, and silently swiveled towards the grey alien. KN quietly pulled a small cube from his rigging. "Three, two, one, go." KN tossed the cube in the space between the two seats and a glowing, orange wall flared to life between the two seats; the grey-armoured alien shot to its feet and rushed towards the wall, but bounced off it and was sent to the floor. Jane fired a neon-blue shuriken from her projectile pod at the cockpit's ceiling, and it burst into a swirling blue cloud. The grey alien shouted in surprise as it was suddenly yanked off its feet and slammed into the ceiling, suspended there by the gravity well. Jane fired three arc-shells, two at the alien's chest and one at its head- and blinked in surprise as a blue-purple barrier surrounding the alien flickered and popped audibly. KN simply raised his rifle and fired a salvo of stun rounds, and the alien stopped struggling and began flailing as the stun rounds began working. KN and Jane both shot forward with their jump kits, grabbed the stunned alien and pulled it from the gravity well, slamming it back into the ground with an audible thud; Jane mag-clamped the alien's arms and KN clamped its legs together. KN attempted to pull the firearm from the alien's back, and grunted as he struggled to pull it free. With another sharp tug and a surge of shock from the tasers in his hands, he yanked it free and tossed it back towards the cockpit's entrance. "Thing was clamped pretty hard," KN said sourly.

The alien stopped spasming, and let out an audible groan before it appeared to realize its situation, and began struggling against the restraints and shouting. "Lek sin! Lek mahak sin! Ah-sarr-ee, karak oheri sulek ajak kin! Veyek? Ahdey!"

The alien continued screaming in its language; KN knelt over it and kept a hand on its back. "Check on the blue one." Jane scurried over to the a-wall, waited as KN deactivated it, and lowered her shotgun. She reached out and lightly prodded the blue alien.

"Hey," Jane said, with as calm a voice she could muster. "Hey, you're alright, it's okay now." Jane prodded the alien again; the blue alien's eyes opened slowly. The alien looked at Jane's helmeted face with glazed eyes, and mumbled something under her breath as Jane cut her restraints with her knife. The alien blinked several times, and examined her chafed blue arms, rubbing her wrists before her eyes snapped back to Jane, the still-screaming armoured alien on the ground, and the sealed helmets of the rest of the combat team. The alien shrunk bank into her seat for a moment, and blinked a few more times.

"Ei atha, ei atten asaree. Ei oyen ilos asaree," the alien said, slowly and with nervous edge. She shook her head, then looked around the cockpit a few times before taking a deep breath. "Ei oyen ilos nassan asaree. Oyen." The alien looked at them again, and pointed at its own face and mimed removing a helmet.

"Corpsman," Jane said, clamping her shotgun to her chest rig, "how safe is the atmo in here? I remember it was supposed to be breathable- but we didn't get a briefing on how much so."

"Breathable," Frost replied. "For us grunt types it's a bit hard to breathe, but we can make do. Your augs would make easy work of it."

"Alright. I'm gonna pop my helmet- you guys just stay ready in case this doesn't work out." Jane pointed to herself. "I'm going to remove my helmet seal," Jane said, as reassuringly as possible, and commanded her helmet's faceplate to open. It did so with an audible hissing noise, and Jane's HUD lit up with a quick notification that her air filtration and lung output optimization augmentations were now online.

The blue alien said nothing, eyes widening in shock and her breathing suddenly becoming very heavy. She stood up from the seat, wavering slightly, and put a steadying hand on the console behind her. "Oyen asaree," the alien said quietly, shaking her head in disbelief. "Athame ayan sura," she whispered, sitting back in the chair.

The grey-suited alien took notice of Jane's revealed face, and managed to wriggle its helmeted head to look at KN's chassis, and began struggling furiously again. "Ahdey! Geth! Geth!"

The blue-skinned alien stood back up and nearly collapsed; Jane offered an arm, and the blue alien took it, supporting herself while staring intently at Jane's face. The blue alien turned to the grey-suited one, and hobbled over with Jane's help, before stomping as hard as she could manage on the grey-suited alien's helmeted head; there was little force behind it, but the intent was clear as the grey-suited one howled and- presumably- cursed furiously.

"Well, I don't imagine that you understand what I'm saying," Jane said, pulling the blue-skinned woman back before she attempted to attack again, "but I need to bring you to our fleet." The blue alien looked at Jane, frowning, pointed at Jane's mouth, then shook her head. Jane nodded, pointed at the assembled group in the cockpit, pointed up several times, then tapped the ship's hull and made a sort of "big" gesture with her hands. The alien looked at Jane, clearly in thought, before nodding in some sort of understanding.

"Tagak, we've got two aliens with us, one restrained and the other in..not great condition, but co-operating." Jane said into her comms, doing her best to remain calm. "We're headed topside and need to get back to the Frontier ASAP for FC debrief, xeno-medical scans and prisoner containment."

"I...uh, okay," Tagak responded, clearly at a loss for words. "Um, wow, right. Of course. This is Tagak, understood. The shuttle we arrived in will take you back."


	8. 2-5: DEBRIEF

**CHAPTER 5: "DEBRIEF"**

When the shuttle began its return to the Frontier, the Vanguard fleet was even busier than before; swarms of ships that had previously been docked in the Seeker and Frontier were out in full force, weapons poking out of hardpoints and arrayed in defensive positions. The shuttle landed back in the Frontier's pimrary hangar bay, and as the shuttle clamped onto the landing pad and popped its rear hatch, Jane noticed that there were no engineers present; instead, several dozen heavily armed EF soldiers were waiting for the crew, alongside a couple of scientists and researchers, all wearing hazmat suits. Jane offered a hand to the blue alien; she took it, and the two of them slowly made their way down the ramp. KN simply slung the grey-suited alien over his shoulder and carried him down to the hangar floor, and tossed him unceremoniously to the ground. Captain Ryder - wearing a hazmat suit- and Captain ED stepped forward from the crowd of soldiers; Tagak gave a quick salute.

"Tagak. Nicely done," Captain Ryder said, looking at the two alien arrivals.

"No need, sir. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN and the rest of the team did all the work."

"If you say so." Captain Ryder nodded at Jane and KN, then waved over a few soldiers, as well as several medical staffers with a stretcher. "Take the blue one to the medical bay with Dr. Lewis, and the armoured one to the blackout brig. Jane, KN, the rest of you- with me. Captain ED and I need to debrief with you once we're through the decon room." The group watched the aliens as they were escorted away; the blue alien made a gesture and smiled at Jane as they left. After a quick detour into a decontamination room, the group followed both Captains to a debriefing room where Ryder stripped out of the hazmat suit. "Looks like we're all clear- no risk of contamination," Alec said, shoving the suit into a nearby locker. "Let's skip the formalities- helmets off, no need to be polite. Let's have the full story."

Jane and KN told the two captains about what had happend; both listened with careful, neutral expressions. When they'd finished, the room remained silent for several minutes before Ryder spoke. "Well, to be completely honest, that went about twenty thousand times better than I'd expected," he said, nodding to himself. "It's not much to go on, but whatever was going on in that complex- and that ship- I get the distinct impression it wasn't exactly pretty."

"Slavery or some other form of trafficking," ED noted sourly. "It resembles operations IS has taken down before. It does raise the question of where the rest of the, well, other hostile party is. Perhaps they'd left, and only this one grey-suited one was left behind?"

"There's not much point in us sitting here trying to work off limited intel, especially coming from an alien- literally- source," Ryder said, sighing. "We can dedicate a large portion of the science team to getting some rudimentary translation software going as soon as Dr. Lewis clears the blue one for questioning- but even if we put all the binaries in to time-dilated sim, we're still stuck with one source for language who is uncooperative, and one who's clearly been through a rough time- and both are organic. In any case, you'll understand that the ship is on minor lockdown right now, and that you all need to be available in case- for whatever reason- we need you guys for questioning as well. In the mean time you're welcome to use the rec facilities on the hangar deck. Decompress, clean up, have a snack. KN, you'll find a charging port in the main rec room if you need one. Captain ED, anything you'd like to add?"

"No, that about covers it. Jane, KN, CT- you'll all be filing paperwork about this, but I'll do my best to have XO Lawson fill as much as she can in for you. We'll also need to prepare a debrief for the crew of the Demeter as well as the Vanguard Fleet in general- then I need to get on the QEC to speak with IS HQ to discuss how the higher-ups want to handle this. That can wait a few minutes while you lot get cleaned up and have something to eat."

The group left the room shortly after; Kanu and Frost lead the way to the hangar deck's temporary barracks and rec facilities. Jane didn't bother showering with the rest of the combat team, instead stripping out of her Pilot suit to her combat undersuit, and settled with washing her face, joining KN in the rec room's small mess a few minutes later. KN was plugged into a nearby wall charger and seated at a bar table; he tossed a can to Jane as she walked in. "I tried to get you a real beer," KN said, "but the idiot binary in charge of the drink dispenser says that since we need to be maintaining readiness you don't get a booze dispensation."

Jane caught the drink and eyed it; it was a can of "Expeditionary Fleet Brown Ale (Non-Alcoholic)." She shrugged. "Augs would probably filter it out, anyway," she said popping the tab and taking a drink. "Huh, it's not bad. Almost tastes like the real thing." KN simply shrugged and made an amused noise, and Jane sank into a nearby chair. "So. Aliens."

"Yup."

"I wonder what the one in the grey suit looks like," Jane said, staring at the can.

The next few hours were uneventful; the group hung out in the recreation room, playing cards and snacking on whatever the dispenser would give them for free. Jane was considering hopping into one of the sim pods in the room when the shipboard comm lit up.

"Pilot Jane Shepard, Titan KN to deck eighteen immediately for debrief."

"That's us, I guess," KN said, unplugging his charging cable and letting in snake back into his chassis. "Come on." The pair left the group and made their way to a nearby service elevator, went up several decks, and were greeted by XO Lawson. The pair saluted as they entered the corridor and Miranda nodded at them. "What's going on?" KN asked.

"The blue alien- we think her name is Waliya- wanted you two to see some sort of explanation," Miranda said, escorting the pair down the corridor and past several armed guards. "She couldn't explain with words, so she drew a picture of your helmet, Jane, and we assumed the square next to your helmet was meant to represent you, Kenneth."

"I resent that," KN said quietly.

"The FC team and I will still be there, but she seems to want to work with you two, presumably since you rescued her," Miranda explained. "Don't do anything rash, or stupid." She turned to a side corridor, passed by several guards who saluted at her, and opened a security hatch and ushered the pair into a small room before following them in; inside, the blue alien was seated at a conference table with several other scientists. Someone had provided her a freshly-cleaned set of fatigues, and no less than six medical patches were visibly stuck beneath her shirt sleeves. A medical bracelet hung from her neck, and she was sipping a blue-green fluid from a canister marked with the medical team's red-cross symbol. The alien noticed KN and Jane, and waved at the pair with a weak smile; Jane smiled back and KN gave her a thumbs-up, which elicited a confused look from the alien. One of the researchers pulled two seats out for the pair, and nodded at them.

"Dr. Altis," the man said somberly. "We've been working on translation software- it's coming along slowly, but with only one frame of reference it's unlikely that we'll be able to have something functional any time soon. The other alien doesn't seem to speak the same language, in any case. Waliya wanted to show something or explain something to you two- thank you for assisting us."

"Of course, doctor," Jane said smoothly. She turned to Waliya, and smiled. "Something to show us?" She mimed writing, and Waliya nodded slowly. She grabbed a slate from a nearby pile and pulled the stylus from its holster, and began scribbling furiously. A few moments later, she slid it across the table at Jane and KN; it was a series of pictures. The first line showed stick-figure-esque representations of Jane (represented by her Pilot's helmet with an X for the visor slit), KN (a square with a circle for his chassis' mono-eye), and Waliya (a circle for a head with lines representing her head tentacles.) The second showed Jane and Waliya closer together, with a line between their heads; the third showed KN and Waliya with lines that didn't meet, instead veering away from each other. The last line showed Jane and Waliya, and several items above the line between their heads that Jane didn't recognize. Jane scratched her head in thought before looking up; Waliya made a humming noise and nodded at her.

"Siari mayan oyen sura," Waliya said, gesturing at her head, then at Jane's. "Loroyen surasen, surasenna eia."

"I think she is, uh, psychic? Or has some sort of way of connecting mentally," Jane said slowly to the researchers, "to allow for transfer of information. Hold on." Jane turned to sit next to Dr. Altis, and pulled two slates from a nearby stack of research books and computers. She drew a circle on one of them, and a square on another; she showed Waliya. Dr. Altis nodded in understanding, then leaned forward so that his and Jane's heads were touching; with their heads connected, Jane pushed the two slates together, and drew a square on the slate with the circle, and vice versa. "Like this, Waliya?"

Waliya nodded vigorously.

"Her pictures would seem to indicate that this information transfer mechanism doesn't work on binaries," Dr. Altis noted with obvious disappointment. "It would have been helpful to have one of the binary researchers do a nice, deep dive to get as much linguistic information as possible. XO Lawson, your thoughts?"

"As useful as such a power would be," Miranda said, voice neutral, "that poses an incredible security risk. I'm sure you understand that even the lowest-ranked grunt in the Vanguard Fleet possesses knowledge that could be unbelievably dangerous in the wrong human or binary hands-let alone a possibly hostile alien. Not to mention that we have no way of knowing if the power is limited to information transfer. We'd be risking a subversion of whoever the procedure is performed upon."

"I wonder if that power of hers would work via a sim pod," a different researcher cut in. "We'd be able to filter the flow of information and data to prevent any unwanted, ah, happenings."

"Still unacceptable," Miranda replied coolly. "IS policy dictates that the security of the Alliance supersedes everything else."

Waliya watched the proceedings, and frowned, clearly understanding Miranda's tone of voice. Miranda watched her groan and mumble to herself, and shrugged. "Let's assume we continue with the current rate of progress. How fast will we have the translation software ready, or at least in a decent state?"

"We're not sure. Simple communication should be ready in a week or two, probably less, but with only one...person to work with, it's going to be a while before anything complex can be conveyed," Dr. Altis replied. "Several of the linguists and archaeologists are working around the clock on this, and the binaries we have are running at one-to-sixty time dilation, too."

Jane raised a hand. "What about the other alien? The one in the grey suit?"

Miranda snorted. "The other one has been less than co-operative; in fact, last time I checked the alien hasn't even left his- I'm going to assume he's male, for simplicity's sake- hasn't even taken his damn helmet off. He's just been sitting in his cell shouting at whoever tries to talk to him, although one of the guards said he's been staring at the toilet quite a bit."

"I meant in terms of communication, Miranda. You guys pulled the cam logs from my helmet, right? They don't speak the same language, so how do they understand one another? Maybe they've got some sort of translation augment."

Dr. Altis furrowed his brow. "It could be useful if the augment contains repositories of language, but the medical team reported that the few augmentations Waliya does have are all subdermal. Given what she's been through, I'm not sure how comfortable I, let alone she- or hell, the medical staff, for that matter, given the fact that they only have a cursory understanding of Waliya's biology- would feel with us tearing it out of her."

"Well, for the time being," Miranda replied, "we'll have to keep working at it with what we have now. Perhaps you could try and convey a surgical removal of her implant? Until then, we can't risk anything else."

Waliya watched the proceedings, frustration at her inability to understand the proceedings obviously etched on her face. Jane turned to her, grabbed a slate, and began drawing again. She drew the same figure of herself and Waliya and drew a line between their heads, then drew a crude representation of one of the dropship they'd ridden as well as a pistol on top of one of the lines. On the next line, she copied the diagram, and added a third stick figure with long hair, meant to represent Miranda, with a line from Miranda's head to the shuttle and gun with several crosses and exclamation marks; lastly, she drew Miranda between Jane and Waliya. Jane slid the slate over to Waliya, who stared at the diagram for several minutes, before making a noise and nodding. Waliya pointed at the representation of Miranda, then at Miranda herself; Jane nodded, and Waliya nodded back before sighing, setting the slate back down, grumbling to herself.

* * *

 **July 20th**

The week passed by with far less fanfare; a thorough examination of the tunnels had found more abandoned supplies, and another makeshift hangar leading to the surface of the planet, though this one was completely empty; a large chunk of the rock ceiling had been missing, presumably by a ship's pilot trying to escape in a rush. The Vanguard Fleet continued to take on new personnel, too; several more ships from the Expedition Fleet had arrived to reinforce their position. Jane and KN spent most of their time either running drills for the Vanguard Fleet's new personnel, or sitting in on the fleet's scientists working with Waliya to devise translation software and teach her to speak some Standard; the staff had noticed that Waliya seemed more at ease with Jane around, and that the presence of the ship's binary personnel made her perhaps not anxious, but a little uncomfortable.

The other alien, however, had removed his suit after a day, revealing himself to be a different sort of alien; four-eyed, with greyish-yellow skin. Waliya had said his name was Brakal; he- Waliya had confirmed he'd been male, or some equivalent to male- had "furiously" (in the words of one of the guards) relieved himself with the cell's toilet, then promptly returned to sulking and shouting at his captors. Waliya had explained as best as she could that he'd be able to eat the rations that she'd been eating, but the medical team had been forced to restrain him and give him a thorough examination with the medical team's nanites to make sure. Ultimately, they'd determined that he could probably eat the shipboard food. Brakal had refused to eat or drink for about a day and a half before giving in with obvious distaste, though he still refused to co-operate with any attempts to learn his language.

Waliya, on the other hand, was making progress, and was able to speak a little bit of Fleet Standard; she could, at the very least, communicate basic needs and wants without too much difficulty. A good portion of the Frontier and the Demeter's staff had the most complete version of Thesserin, which seemed to be an equivalent to the Common speech of the Alliance. She'd managed to explain that there were several alien species that seemed to co-exist wherever she was from; her species was Asari, Brakal was a "Batraeen," part of a society that either promoted or at least didn't punish slavery. She'd drawn crude sketches of a few others, including a hulking "Kai-roghann", "Tuhree-ahnsa," an odly spiked sort of creature, "Salarias," almost frog-like creatures, and several others. Explaining much more in detail was difficult; Waliya's drawing skills were not very good, nobody was willing to plug her into a sim pod until the medical team was 100% sure it'd be safe to implant her with a dataport, and several items that Waliya drew or tried to explain didn't seem to have an obvious counterpart to Alliance culture. In the mean time, retrieval teams had recovered several Asari corpses and extracted their implants; a few had functions that the science teams were still trying to work out, but they'd managed to find several translation implants, devised a basic cable link between the implants and their computers, and were working furiously to try and figure out how to properly interface with the devices. The corpses, in the mean time, had been sealed in burial caskets and frozen until they could understand what Waliya would want done with them.

Most of the fleet's rank-and-file soldiers were incredibly excited to test the small stockpile of small-arms they'd recovered from the cave's caches; Waliya had expressed a lack of knowledge about their internal workings, and nobody was willing to hand Brakal a firearm. Research staff piloting remote chassis had begun testing the weapons and disassembling them, and much to the dismay of the fleet's soldiers the only people with access to the weapons were those working on the research teams. Jane, thus, found herself settling into the familiar shipboard life of training, sitting with Waliya, or otherwise not doing much at all. She'd woken up this morning, washed up, packed away the makeshift bunk she'd placed inside KN's Titan chassis, and was on her way to bother Petty Officer Gardner for some hot breakfast. She made her way to the mess hall and found Rupert Gardner chatting away with KN and a few other soldiers; Gardner waved her over. "It's congee today; not sure what the Frontier is serving today."

Jane yawned, stretched, and shrugged. "Depends. What's with it?"

"Assorted vegetables, fish cakes, some beef."

"No eggs?"

"We ran out a few days ago, so no."

Jane made a show of thinking, then nodded. "Yeah, sure. Cup of coffee, too."

"Get it yourself, princess," Rupert said, scowling. He grabbed a mess tin from his workstation, and filled it with congee, a few rehydrated vegetables, and a few pieces of beef and two fish cakes. Jane took it after filling a mug with coffee, looked at it, and stared at Gardner, who rolled his eyes. "I'm not giving you any more fish cakes, so sit your ass down and eat."

KN snorted in amusement, and waited as Jane sat down across from him. "Good sleep?"

"Yeah, not bad," Jane said before shovelling a spoonful of congee into her mouth. "Wow, Gardner, you didn't fuck this up. It's not bad."

"Piss off," Rupert shot back as he ladled out more congee for another crewman.

Jane was about to say something rude when the ship's comms lit up. "Shepard, KN," Captain ED said, "please join me in the QEC. Director Harper is on the line." The mess hall went silent and somebody whistled. Jane swore, shoveled a few more spoonfuls of food down and jogged to the main elevator, went up a deck and entered the QEC room. The interior was cramped; the only open space was a small, circular stage with enough room for maybe four people to stand in a square, surrounded by holo-projectors and various computers. Captain ED was already standing in the stage's centre, and a projection of an older man wearing a well-cut suit strained to see the room's new arrivals. ED motioned for the two to join her; they both saluted and did so, waiting as the room's scanners finished creating holograms of Jane and KN.

The older man had pale skin and greying hair, and his prosthetic eyes flitted as he took in the images of Jane and KN before he settled back into a chair and pulled a metal case from his blazer pocket. "At ease, Jane, Kenneth. I know we're not sitting together in-person, but I hope you won't mind if I treat myself to a kretek."

"Of course not, Director," ED responded.

"Thank you." He pulled a fat cigarette from the case, and used a built-in lighter on the cases's side to light it; he took a deep lungful, then put the case back into his coat. "Ah, much better. We haven't met face-to-face yet, so allow me to formally introduce myself. Director Jack Harper, Alliance Intelligence Services. It's a pleasure to meet new operatives who already perform beyond my expectations- and show potential to continue to grow." He gave a slight nod.

"Thank you, Director," Jane said.

"I reward excellency," Jack responded, taking another drag. "In any case, I'm not here just to shower you with accolades. First Contact is no laughing matter, and while the Alliance's highest-ranking members have been briefed on the situation, I- or more accurately, the IS, has been called upon to help draft a framework for how this information is made public. Captain ED and XO Lawson have already provided me with as much information as they've been able to collate, but I'd like to hear your take- and KN's- on the situation."

Jane looked at KN; KN nodded and stepped forward slightly. "Jane and I have thought at length about the situation, Director, and we're both in agreement on most of the details."

"Oh? Go ahead, then."

"The primary issue is that most of our FC training, from the IS, Pilot School, even our schooling, tended to assume that we would come across civilization, right? Say, a colony, or an outpost, or something along those lines, KN said.

"In our case," Jane continued, "we've run across two aliens- from different species, no less- and our first contact has been with what is clearly an...alien trafficking ring. Of the two aliens we've got to work with, one is a survivor of some pretty terrible abuse, and the other is a slave trader, or a similarly unsavoury profession. True, those things exist in our own culture, but that's several steps removed from running into it first-hand, let alone having it be the first slice of alien culture that we see."

"Mmm. Yes, that's true," Jack said, nodding slowly. "I've already come under pressure by some of the higher-ups to, ah, downplay the more lurid aspects of what we've found."

"There's the other problem," KN noted. "We've barely found anything besides the slaver's camp and the artifact, and while Waliya- the blue alien- has explained that the artifact facilitates travel somehow, we have no idea how for it'll take us, or how to even make the thing work. Waliya explained that we have to interface with the artifact, but she's not an engineer, pilot, or soldier, so she's got no idea as to how the actual process works on a base technological level. Not to mention that we've got no idea what's waiting for us out there. Waliya explained- we think- that we're pretty far from what she considers home, or a safe space. Apparently lots of these Batraeen folk operate as pirates past wherever the artifact goes, too."

"So, KN and I settled on two options. Since there's only two aliens, one option would be to shore up OPSEC and simply claim that we've found proof of sapient life- the ship, weapons, et cetera- but deny that we've found alien life, dead or alive, until we find a source besides Waliya. The other is to go open with everything, and be as honest as possible; spin this as us finding ourselves on the edges of lawless alien space where some bad folks are known to hang out, thanks to alien informants. Both have their downsides, of course. KN and I think the second option is better, but you'd have to be careful to ensure the fear of an FC doesn't spiral out of control thanks to the whole slavery thing- you'd really have to focus on how this isn't a normal thing."

Jack took several more drags of his cigarette, and stared into space thoughtfully. "Of course, the two of you are operating on the assumption that Waliya's information is correct. I understand that Brakal has been less than co-operative, but let's say hypothetically that he did provide us information, and much of it contradicted Waliya. Would you take her word over his due to their positions?"

KN shuffled uneasily. "I can't say that I'd be inclined to, but we'd be forced to reconsider our current base of knowledge."

"Yes. We would," Jack responded, drumming his fingers on his chair. "Assume Waliya is wrong- not necessarily lying, but she's promoted a very optimistic view of things. Let's say that the Batraeen people aren't the only ones who are okay with slavery and the conditions we found her in, and that she wants to use us as a third party to shake things up. What then?"

Jane shrugged. "We roll with it, spin our previous information as being incorrect due to a lack of sources, and go from there. We're not lying and, frankly, there's not much the general public can do about it given the remoteness of the fleet and the security surrounding the issue."

Jack finished his cigarette and placed it into an ashtray, a thoughtful expression creeping onto his face. "I agree with that point of view, Jane." He paused, then sat straighter. "Thank you for your time, both of you. I"m proud to say that despite a lack of formal intelligence training, you're both proving to be very useful indeed. Captain ED, please stay here- we'll continue our discussion. Pilot Shepard, KN, dismissed."


	9. ARC 3 - CONTACT: PURPLE

**ARC III: CONTACT**

 **CHAPTER ONE: "PURPLE"**

 **July 25th**

"Alright, sending. Unmanned test vehicle 2946, launching in three, two, one."

A tiny ship, maybe a quarter the size of one of the Frontier's dropships with little more than an engine and basic navigation computer installed, launched and arced towards the Artifact.

"UTV approaching artifact. Data packet being sent."

The crowd standing by one of the Frontier's viewing windows began whooping and cheering as the artifact's spinning rings fired a glowing blue bolt at the tiny shuttle, covering it with a glowing aura; the shuttle began to accelerate, and just as suddenly the aura disappeared, the shuttle shot forward several miles, then stopped.

"UTV 2946, test failed. Alright, show's over, back to work. Shuttle team prep for retrieval, Artifact team standby for data transfer. Hangar teams, launch check for UTV 2947."

The crowd collectively groaned and sighed, and most of the crowd filtered out of the rec room, grumbling; Jane, KN and several other crew members stayed to continue their break, and to keep Waliya company.

"It didn't work," Waliya said, scowling. "Ei chalayaa noren asura- the, the blue light means it is working. But not properly. It should go woosh," she said, miming a ship moving very quickly, "not go pfffft," now mimicking the shuttle's sudden stop. She sighed as her medical bracelet beeped; she pulled up a sleeve of her fatigues, removed the two medical patches, tossed them into a nearby garbage can, pulled two patches from her pockets and slapped them on her arm.

"How're you feeling? Do you have to stay on the patches for much longer?" asked Jane.

"I am feeling better phys-i-cally," Waliya said, slowing down on the last word. "Doctor Lewis says only three more days of the patches." She paused, and looked bleakly out the window. "But here," she said, tapping her head. "Not so much."

"You've been through a lot," KN ventured. "I think you're doing a great job all things considered."

Waliya simply nodded, and muttered something in Thesserit. Jane had overheard some of the grunts guarding her quarters speak- quietly- about Waliya waking up screaming and crying; it was no longer a nightly event, but it still happened enough that many of the guards had asked permission to go give Brakal a swift kick or two in his genitals; given Brakal's continued lack of co-operation, many people would have done exactly that if the consequences for doing so were less severe. Jane was about to make a comment when the ship's alarms began to blare; Jane stared in disbelief as the artifact flared to life and a small craft of some sort was suddenly deposited next to it.

 _ALL PERSONNEL, XENO CONTACT! HANDS TO STATIONS, CONDITION ONE, FC! PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE HOSTILE CONTACT!_

KN snapped up, and looked at at Jane. "You take her back, I'll get our gear prepped. Meet you in the hangar." KN took off at a sprint out of the rec room while Jane pointed out the window. "Waliya, do you recognize that?"

"I-I-no?" She stumbled uneasily out of her chair and muttered to herself before turning to Jane. "It's not yours- Alliance- it's ours, alien to you, yes," she said, excitedly.

"Friendly?"

"I think?"

"Alright. I'll run you back to your room. Get suited up; one of the guards will help you."

"Wait, what do you mean, run- ah!" Waliya's protests were cut off as Jane picked her up and easily slung her over shoulder, and took off at a full sprint back to Waliya's quarters as Waliya wailed in surprise and discomfort. Minutes later, she deposited Waliya outside her quarters and grabbed the nearest guard. "Get her into atmo gear, get her somewhere safe!"

"Ma'am! Hal, get the atmo suit. Waliya, it's okay, but I need you to get into the suit Hal's bringing," the guard said, pointing at the binary pulling the spacesuit out of Waliya's storage locker. "Go on, ma'am, we've got this."

Jane nodded as the shipboard comms lit up once more.

All Demeter personnel, report to your stations and prepare for immediate launch. Report in on arrival.

Within another five minutes, she was back aboard the Demeter and signaled Cortez, who nodded and signed her in; she was already wearing her Pilot's suit, so she installed her jump kit, sealed her helmet and joined KN, who had already installed his combat rig over his chassis and was hastily plugging in extra batteries into his back. Jane threw open her locker and settled on an all-purpose loadout.

 _R-906RC Automatic Rail Carbine. Charge Rifle Precision Anti-Titan Beam Projector. Smart Pistol -R Semi-Automatic Rail Handgun w/ Smart Targeting. Arc Grenades. Electronic Countermeasure Explosives._

She finished clamping and holstering her weapons, filled her chest rig with ammunition, and clambered into KN's Titan Chassis. The comms lit up again as the last few stragglers hopped aboard, and Cortez raised the belly ramp and the ship's landing clamps retracted.

"Crew, this is Captain ED. We're launching immediately and activating the stealth drive. If something happens we might need to retreat fast, or deploy faster. I know as much as the rest of you, so your orders are simple. Do your jobs. Uphold the mission. ED out."

The ship shuddered as its engines roared to life, and from the external feed Jane could see the entire fleet repositioning; the Frontier and Seeker both angled towards the new craft and the artifact, hangar bays open and launching formations of ships; several of the newer arrivals, the Aegis, Starlight and Regal were doing the same. Four other ships, the Beacon, Marathon, Spade and Ascent all angled away from the artifact, ready to jump out of the system if need be.

"Crew, this is Helmsman Goldstein. Check those suit seals. Engaging stealth drive in thirty seconds. Engineering standby for report."

Jane watched as an odd blue glow that reminded her of the artifact she'd found on Iris a little too much for comfort filled the ship's corridors and the hangar bay, and an odd whistling sound filled her ears.

"Drive online. Limiters released. Engaging in three, two, one."

A sound not quite like the howling and shrieking of the FTL engines rang out from nowhere in particular before suddenly dying down. Jane raised a hand and watched a pale blue grow envelop it, then the rest of her body.

"Hated this during the tests and I hate it now," KN's voice said into her helmet. "My sensors do NOT like this."

"Stop your whining," Jane said with as much calm as she could. She reactivated the external feed and strained her eyes; the video feed was still clear, but had an odd, hazy blue filter over it. The Demeter soared around the fleet, keeping line-of-sight on the alien shuttle. It was a small, unassuming craft, not at all like the rusted, boxy ship they'd found in the caves; instead, it was a purple-blue bulb, with sleek lines and a curved aesthetic Jane admitted she found pleasing, even if it did look impractical; considering that the shuttle looked unarmed, perhaps practicality wasn't it's primary concern. A light on the front of the ship began to blink; Jane recognized it as the Fibonacci number. A minute later, the ship launched two projectors, and a holographic image was displayed in front of the shuttle: the artifact and the shuttle on one side, and a bunch of random ships that Jane supposed were meant to represent alien- from the perspective of the shuttle, anyway- ones on the other. The relay blinked several times, and a second, larger shuttle joined the first next to the artifact; nothing happened, and it flashed several times with green and blue lines. The green and blue lines disappeared; now the Alliance stand-in ships fired on the new arrival, and the image showed red, black, and orange lines cutting over the image before flashing again. The display repeated several more times; the fleet continued to reorganize so that no less than five ships worth of weaponry could be deployed if need be. Five minutes later, the artifact flashed blue again, and a new ship halted next to the shuttle, this one was larger, but shared the same purple colouring and sleek curvy hull.

"Open message on comms," Goldstein reported. "Patching it through"

"Ei atha suran," came a female voice, similar but deeper than Waliya's. "Noi atha suran malissen Asari Polenne-"

"-applying translation filter. Restarting transmission-"

"We give you greetings. We, who represent the Asari Republics..."

* * *

Jalina Atruus was confused.

She was, in fact, very confused, and her crest tingled and itched with unease as she stared at the massive- really, they were unbelievably massive- boxy ships arrayed around the mass relay, all pointed at the shuttle.

About a week ago, she'd been working as a professor at Armali University on Thessia; she'd been up late marking papers when she'd received a call on a number she specifically hadn't used in almost a century.

"Jalina speaking," she'd said cautiously.

"Jalina, it's Herane."

"Ah, how have you been?" Jalina closed her terminal and frowned. "I know you've been more or less unavailable since you became Councilor, so you'll forgive me if I don't think this is just an old friend calling to catch up."

"I'm sorry, Jalina, you're right," Councilor Tevos said. "I'd like to ask a favour of you."

"As I recall, you're the one who owes me the favours," Jalina said plainly, "but for you I'll happily do another for you. If it's not too ridiculous or time-consuming."

"Excellent. I'll need you to come to the Citadel immediately- can you find someone to cover for your work?"

Jalina thought about the massive backlog of thesis papers she had to finish marking, and shrugged to herself. "I'm sure my assistants can handle it. You do know this is a secure line, right?"

"Jalina, this is serious. Very serious."

"Something about not too ridic-"

"-I'm not joking around, Jalina. I need you here, and the sooner the better."

Ultimately Jalina had agreed, left a message on the Dean of Political Sciences's account, and packed her bags. When she'd arrived on the Citadel, an armed escort was already waiting for her, and she'd met Herane- Councilor Tevos, now- in a private meeting room. Tevos scanned the room no less than six times, and had placed four electronic jammers around the room and another three on the desk, and turned on a static-generator built into the door.

"We might have first contact with a new species," Tevos had said, "and I want you to be our representative."

"I'm sorry, what? No offense, that's idiotic. We already have an ambassador for exactly these sorts of things, and I'm hardly qualified-"

"- you can drop the whole 'old professor' act, Jalina. Karitia's not a bad ambassador, not by any stretch or sense of the word, but she's...a little too comfortable with Valern for my liking."

The room had been silent for nearly a minute.

"That's a very, very dangerous accusation you're making, even in private," Jalina had said, quietly. "I suppose that explains the security."

"It does."

"How do you intend to explain your placing me at the head of the operation?"

"Karitia's on a diplomatic mission on Kahje. This is an emergency, and you've been on the backup list for a while."

"You didn't inform me I was on any sort of list, Herane."

"No, I didn't," Tevos replied pointedly.

Jalina sighed. "Alright, I get it. I need details on what we know and when I ship out."

"Not much on the first front, I'm afraid. A Spectre intercepted a bunch of Batarian slavers on the edge of mapped space not too long ago. They'd illegally activated a Relay and had been using an uninhabited planet as a base of operations when they detected a bunch of ships in the system that they didn't recognize. They'd fled after leaving a couple people behind, and were going to inform their own government- lucky catch for us. Other than that? Nothing. This is out in the middle of nowhere in the Traverse- even the STG has nothing on this. Supposedly."

"Fuck. So there's a chance that first contact for the new species has already happened, and it's with a bunch of slavers?"

"You understand why I wanted to send you."

"Alright. Alright, I get it. When do I leave?"

"The Spectre is already on standby in one of the private docking bays with the rest of the crew we've assembled, along with several escort ships. Do you have everything you need packed with you?"

"Don't insult me, Herane. It's only been a century."

Tevos had simply leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Jalina. This- you have no idea what this means to me. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I expect a generous reward when I return," Jalina had said, "like not calling in these sorts of favours."

"I know, I know. The guards will escort you to the hangar."

Jalina had given Tevos a crooked grin and a mock salute. "Agent Black Dagger reporting for active duty, Councilor. It's my honour to serve again."

Tevos had sighed, and rolled her eyes.

Jalina had made her way to the small group of ships in the private hangar she'd been told about, and found a Turian in black and red armour waiting for her. The Turian nodded. "Spectre Nihlus Kryik," he'd said politely. "I take it you're the ambassador Councilor Tevos is sending?"

"Ambassador Jalina Atruus," she'd said, slipping into a polite, soft voice. "Nihlus- can I call you that?"

"Of course." He'd gestured to the turian-made frigate. "Welcome aboard the Lightspear. "It's not fancy, but it is fast."

"Thank you, Nihlus."

The trip had been uneventful; Jalina had spent most of it conversing with the ship's ragtag crew or brushing up on her first-contact procedures.

This is how she found herself seated, staring uneasily at the massive alien fleet, and submitted her basic introduction.

"We bring greetings in good faith," she'd said, careful to keep her voice polite and non-threatning. "We represent the Asari Republics, and by extension the various races of the Citadel, a collection of races who live amongst one another in peace and harmony. It would be our pleasure to welcome you to the civilization we share in the galaxy." The message's contents, transmitted in Thesserit, were probably less important than the tone of voice it was said in, and she'd done her best to sound welcoming.

Unsurprisingly, somebody had responded.

Surprisingly, the response was in Thesserit, and Jalina had a very nervous, confused feeling run up her spine. The voice was rough, the Thesserit was very basic, and there were several words she didn't know, but it was nonetheless in a language she could easily understand.

"We return your greetings. My name is Captain Ahlek Ryederr, of the ship Frontier, representing the people- huemann and byenairee of the Systems Alliance. We are peaceful and want to speak and are waiting for your response. We also have an asari who wants to speak." There'd been a muffled sound and she could hear someone mutter in Thesserit, "Please, Waliya, say something."

"Uh, hello!" The voice was Asari, Jalina realized, fairly high-pitched- someone young. "My name's Waliya Ruli. I was capture by a bunch of Batarian pirates but these people rescued me and they've been taking good care of me. They're friendly and just want to talk." The next few sentences were muffled, as though she was speaking away from a microphone, again in Thesserit. "Was that good? I told them that you've been taking good care of me and that, uh, we just want to talk."

"Yes," the rough voice said back, "very good." The voice got louder as it presumably dressed the microphone again. "Like we said before, we are happy and waiting to speak with you more."

The transmission had ended, and Jalina stared blankly at the console, then at the fleet before her, then at Nihlus.

Nihlus's eyes were very wide and his mouth was open.

The cockpit remained silent before Nihlus shook his head in disbelief. "What," he said flatly, "is going on?"

Jalina blinked several times. "By the goddess, that is an excellent question." She paused for a moment. "I need your honest opinion, Nihlus."

"That's all you'll get from me, ma'am."

"Do you think Waliya is being coerced or otherwise threatened?"

Nihlus looked off at the massive Alliance fleet, thinking, before turning back to Jalina. "My gut tells me she's doing fine."

"And your head?"

"That she's doing fine, but that we need to have backup plans ready."

"I believe I follow the same line of thinking," Jalina said, nodding in agreement. "I think that whatever meeting we have with these new aliens should be held on the shuttle, just in case."

"Agreed. I assume we'll be meeting with this Captain Ryederr, and Waliya's going to come too. That's not negotiable. They're going to want an escort party," Nihlus continued, tapping a talon on the seat's armrest. "I'd like to keep them as lightly-armed as few in number as possible. I'm not convinced things are going to go horribly wrong, but we need a contingency plan." He hummed to himself for a moment, then sighed. "Ambassador, could you try and get them to keep their escort party under 5 people? Try and see if we can have a few of our escort ships come in; even if we just had the Lightspear with us, I'd feel a lot more comfortable. We also need to stay next to the relay and have our engines at least mostly ready to go- we're fast, for a shuttle, and have a pretty hefty barrier generator, but regardless of tech there are a lot of guns pointed at us. If we need to go, I'd like to be able to do it fast."

"I understand, Nihlus."

"Thank you, Ambassador. I need to confer with the crew, but I'll be back in a second." Nihlus nodded and left the cockpit, and Jalina turned back to the console and began transmitting on the open channel after a moment of thought.

"Captain Ryederr, I am Ambassador Jalina Atruus. It would be my pleasure to welcome you aboard this shuttle to discuss where we go from here, and to learn more about each other's peoples."

"That is acceptable," came the rough, male-sounding voice about a minute later. "Should we bring Waliya? And I must bring guards with me. My Ex-Ohh insists."

Jalina didn't know what an "ex-ohh" was, but she figured it was his subordinate. "Yes. Would five guards be acceptable? I'd ask that they be lightly armed- and yes, I would appreciate you bringing Waliya as well. I'd also like your permission to have some of the ships escorting me come, just to assist in case we need to transfer people or goods." There was no response for a minute.

"Yes," the Captain responded. "Three ships at most. It is very crowded here," he said, laughing slightly.

"That's more than acceptable; thank you. I'm sure we'll be able to see, but please inform me when you send your delegation. The shuttle has a docking bay, but I'm not sure if your craft will fit; we also have a docking point on the ship's side."

"Good. We will let you know when we send the shuttle out."

Nihlus had returned shortly afterwards, taking a seat across from Jalina with two canteens. "Thirsty?"

She nodded, took one, and drank from it; she drained about half the water inside before setting it down. "They agreed to three ships, and in return they'll bring five guards along with Waliya."

"Mmm." Nihlus drank from his canteen with the built in straw, and hummed thoughtfully to himself. "We'll bring the Lightspear, Waypoint and Fang. Turian, Asari and Salarian ship. Should reinforce the whole community thing."

"Alright- I'll let Larix know to get the signal out. Did they say how they'd be arriving?"

"I'm afraid not, though given the size of their ships I'm inclined to think they'll have to use the docking point."

"Understood. I'll be in the reception room prepping things- let me know when they're on the way."

The shuttle's crew had waited another fifteen minutes before the comm console lit up once again. "This is Captain Ryederr. We are leaving in the shuttle now and will be there shortly." Jalina had given him the go-ahead, and a few minutes later a dropship that was maybe a quarter of the size of the ambassadorial shuttle made its way out of the Frontier and cruised slowly towards the mass relay. Just as the dropship began to approach the shuttle, three new ships popped into the area around the mass relay with flashes of blue, and the dropship stopped for a minute before resuming its journey. It finally made its way to the ambassadorial shuttle, and pulled up beside it; the docking port on the side of the shuttle extended over the side exit hatch of the dropship. Jalina left the cockpit and waited in front of the airlock; Nihlus and the other crew on the shuttle stood behind her, weapons holstered despite their obvious unease. She watched as the airlock cycled and, at last, the door hissed open, revealing a group of seven figures, each wearing sealed helmets and suits. The first, she presumed, was the Captain; his spacesuit was blue and silver, and had what she presumed was a rank marker on its shoulders; another was wearing an all-orange spacesuit. Three of the others were wearing what sealed combat armor in a drab brown, though their chest rigging was empty and they all only carried sidearms. The last two stood out from the group the most: the first figure had all-tan armour that looked much heavier than the others, and its helmet, rather than the plain unmarked helmets that the rest of the group wore, had a distinctive sort of X shape that glowed slightly. The last member of the group was a combat mech of some sort which stood next to the tan figure.

The group stepped out of the airlock, and waited for the door to close behind them. One of the brown-armoured figures nodded to the Captain, and the group removed their helmets.

Jalina Atruus was confused.

In fact, she was outright bewildered.

First contact training did say that it was possible- not likely, but possible that a new alien species would closely resemble one that the students were already familiar with. They'd gone over some theoretical examples, and examined the similarities between the races of the Citadel as well. Jalina recalled those lessons from so many centuries ago, and remembered somebody asking about the chances of an alien race being the same- or almost the same- as one they'd already found, and the instructor had said that the numbers were very, very low. So, of course, it was her luck that the aliens standing before her with their helmets off (except for the one in the back, whose helmet had unsealed its faceplate in the front) looked very, very much like Asari. Their skin colours varied, and in place of a crest they had shaved or short-cut hair, but if you dyed their skin blue and gave them an artifical crest, they'd easily pass for Asari at first glance.

The one in the blue-silver suit- who she presumed was male, given the way some of the others looked- stepped forward. His skin was fairly light, and a thin layer of facial hair covered his face beneath his nose and around his mouth. "Captain Ahlek Ryederr," he said in Thesserit. It is an honour to meet you, Ambassador Jalina." He gestured to the figure in the orange suit, who was struggling with the suit's helmet; one of the ones in the brown suits stepped forward and helped unseal the helmet to reveal a young Asari who grinned at the sight of Jalina and her escorts. "You have already heard from Waliya."

"Oh goddess," said Waliya, whose eyes began to tear up. "I'm...wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you." She turned to the Captain and said something in an alien language; the Captain simply smiled back and nodded before turning back to Jalina. "In my culture, we often shake hands when greeting someone," he said, offering a gloved hand. Jalina took it, and indeed shook hands with the Captain.

"Thank you for returning Waliya unharmed. Perhaps we should move to the conference room and have a seat instead of standing around like this," Jalina said, gesturing further into the ship. Nihlus and his crew nodded, and escorted the group into the next room. They took a seat around a round conference table, and Jalina cleared her throat. "Well, I'd like to start with, well, the basics, but perhaps we can do a round of introductions- and explain your understanding of Thesserit."

Captain Ryder nodded, and spoke again in Thesserit. "My soldiers saved Waliya from the Batraeen slaver. We were not sure if the, link, meld, I do not know the word- surasen, Waliya calls it- was safe, so we programmed translation software using the translation implants we found on deceased Asari that the Batraeen had killed. We worked with Waliya to cover any thing we didn't know. Then we worked with our bynairees - artificial intelligence persons to make the software as fast as possible. It isn't perfect, but it works."

Jalina did her best not to react to the implications of the phrase "artificial intelligence persons;" she did notice Nihlus twitch slightly and Raetor, the crew's engineer, tightened visibly beneath his suit and clenched his hands. She filed the thought away for later, took a quarter-second to regain her composure, and responded. "I see," she said. "We'll be sure to provide you with an annotated database and an engineer to assist you in developing your translation software; that should tide us over until, I presume, diplomats representing your- Alliance?- arrive.

"That is good," the Captain responded. "Would you like us to give you our version of the same thing? When our diplomats arrive the software needs to be as accurate as possible,"

"I think that'd be wise," said Jalina. "With that out of the way, would you care to formally introduce yourself, and the rest of your escort?"

"Of course. I am Captain Alec Ryder - she noted his pronunciation, the different stresses in the way he spoke his own name- of the ship Frontier, serving in the Vanguard Fleet of the Expeditionary Fleet. I represent the humans and binaries of the Alliance, the government and central authority for both. These," he continued, gesturing to the soldiers in the brown armour, "are Sergeant James Kanu, Medic Issac Frost, and Corporal Othais Toombs." The three of them nodded as their names were spoken, and Jalina mouthed their names, doing her best to keep the pronunciation accurate. "They are part of the Vanguard's security group."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. What about the last one, and the combat robot?" She paused as the robot- sagged? She swore that despite its blocky, featureless "face" and single mono-eye, that it looked mildly offended.

"Ah, yes. This is Pilot Jane Shepard, and her Taitan, KN-6-Dee-1687. KN is an artificial intelligence, but the commonly accepted term is binary."

"Pilot? Did she drive the dropship?"

Captain Ryder- not Ryederr- smirked. "The name is not accurate. We will have to show you video later."

"Alright. Well, I suppose it's our turn. I'm Jalina Atruss, an ambassador for the central Galactic powers and representing the best interests of their governing body, the Council. I'm an Asari, but you already have experience with that," she said, smiling slightly and doing her best to ignore the robot's monoeye staring at her. "This is Nihlus Kryik, the bodyguard and escort assigned to me by the Council. He's a Turian." Nihlus nodded politely at Captain Ryder, who nodded back slowly. "We also have Larix Quentis," - the other Turian, this one wearing blue-black armour, nodded as well. "Raetor'Taame nar Xawal, a Quarian- our mechanic and engineer," indicating the humanoid figure in the full suit, and lastly, Itok Kazus, a Salarian, our resident scientist"

The group of humans- and the AI- consulted amongst themselves for a moment before the Captain turned to Jalina. "Thank you. It is a pleasure to meet all of you. My scientists have prepared an information briefing in Thesserit; perhaps we can go over it while we send a copy of yours back to my ship to improve our software as soon as possible?"

Jalina looked at Nihlus, who looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "I see no harm in that."


	10. 3-1 CODEX I

SYSTEMS ALLIANCE

The Systems Alliance, or in common parlance, simply the Alliance, is the central governing body of human and binary society. It traces its origins back to before the use of the Freeport Calendar to the Titan Wars, a series of battles between the Core Systems-backed Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation and the Frontier Militia, an irregular, decentralized fighting force composed of colonists. The IMC had previously been sent from the Core System to search for areas to carry out resource extraction and exploitation; the initial excitement slowly waned, and after a series of conflicts in the Core System, the IMC left behind a token group of colonists and left the frontier for several generations. When the conflicts in the Core died down and the Core System could no longer support the wants and needs of its growing population, the IMC returned to the Frontier- and was shocked to find that the colonists they'd left behind had flourished thanks to undisturbed access to the plentiful resources the IMC had found, but never tapped.

The IMC stated that they had total, rightful control of the Frontier systems, both socioeconomic and geopolitical, thanks to their claims dating back to the original colonization period, and proceeded to wrest control of the Frontier back from the colonists, seizing assets and using military force when they deemed it necessary. After several failed attempts at negotiations, the peoples of the Frontier banded together to form the Frontier Militia. This led to a number of skirmishes where several IMC personnel defected; ultimately, these early fights led to a string of minor victories for the Militia, ending in the total expulsion of the IMC from the Freeport System; this is the basis of the Freeport Calendar and the last day of the battle, October 9th, is Freeport Zero.

Ultimately, the conflict between the IMC and Militia would continue for nearly sixty more years; faced with the escalating nature of the conflict, rising costs, discontent at home in the Core Systems and an increasingly competent and organized Militia left the IMC in ruins financially and militarily; the company found itself unable to fulfill their mandate to send resources back to the Core and equally unable to fend off the Militia in any meaningful way. Over the course of the next sixty or so years, the Militia transformed itself into the Frontier Alliance, which would, as the colonists of the Frontier expanded their territory, become the Systems Alliance of today. The Alliance Parliament and the servers for its virtual equivalent, Nexus-Liberty, are hosted on the planet Harmony.

EARTH & THE CORE

The planet which humans - and binaries- can trace their origins to is a mere shadow of its former self. Once a planet covered in great forests and shining seas, by the time the IMC set out to reclaim the Frontier from its inhabitants, Earth was a ravaged shell of its former self, having played host to no less than eight planet-scale wars. Its inhabitants began an ambitious series of terraforming programs meant to nurse the planet back to a healthier state, but the Fold Wars which began in 110FP and ended in 115FP effectively sealed the planet's fate; Earth today is a shattered, broken landmass which all but the most brave - some would say foolish- brave to recover artifact-derived byproducts, relics and other items to be sold for incredible amounts in the markets of the rest of the Alliance. The planet remains mostly uninhabited; its non-native populace is primarily composed of researchers. Earthborn citizens are estimated to number at around 20 million, though the number is assuredly higher; a large portion of that number remain destitute compared to the rest of the Alliance's civilian population despite numerous resettlement efforts.

The Core System, also known today as Sol, is a part of the Systems Alliance. Mercury remains uninhabited due to its hostile location and conditions. Venus contains a few research outposts, but is otherwise similarly uninhabited. Mars, similarly to Earth, suffered catastrophic damage during the Fold Wars; several military installations are on the planet, but there are no civilians living there. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto all have military or government-run installations, primarily involved with resource extraction and refinement.

The Core carries with it a reputation of being an undeveloped backwater system- and a painful reminder that the Alliance's history carries with it an unbelievable amount of bloodshed and destruction.

The Systems Alliance (Governance)

With hundreds of planets in multiple systems, each of varying size and of wildly different import to the Alliance's socioeconomic well-being, the central governance carried out by the Alliance Parliament has always been a difficult issue. The transition from Frontier Militia to Systems Alliance was not a perfect, easy process; several of the individual sections of the Militia refused to join the Alliance post-war, though by 190 FP all had conceded some level of authority to the centralized government without any armed conflict. (Many critics have noted that in certain cases, despite the lack of overt military force, the Alliance of old was not afraid to use the threat of economic sanction and trade blockades to get what they wanted; this practice has stopped and reparations have been made in an attempt to apologize for said actions.) Today, Alliance Parliament is hosted on the planet Harmony, the economic and political centre of the Systems Alliance; planetary representatives are required to spend at least 3/4s of the standard year in their own constituency to prevent disconnection and a promotion of power in the Parliament itself. Thanks to the seeding of most of Alliance space with Quantum Entanglement Communication Buoys, virtual attendance (whether via sim-representation, holo-presence, or in case of extreme distance, text communication) is a commonplace occurrence.

Binary citizens technically have their own Parliament in the form of the Nexus, a series of hosted servers at key points in Alliance-controlled space; the largest and most well-known is Nexus Liberty, also hosted on Harmony. Thanks to time-dilation technology being far more effective with binaries, and through the use of QECBs, the Nexus is able to debate, if not resolve, issues at far faster rates than humans could ever achieve, then synchronize the results via QECB. Most Nexus servers are constantly operating; most also have set hours for humans to participate or listen to proceedings, with the time-dilation turned down to 2:1 sim-realtime. In practice, the Alliance Parliament and the Nexus work very closely together; Nexus Liberty has, with only a few exceptions made in times of crisis, never gone beyond the 2.5 to 1 time dilation limit that the average dataport-equipped citizen can handle.

Binaries

True "smart" artificial intelligences with the ability to adapt, evolve and emote as strongly as any organic being began to come into their own around 25FP; several AIs, many of them purpose-built as Titan AIs for the Frontier Militia, began to show more organic traits ranging from improved decision making to the expressing of favoured weapons and learning to emote. The IMC, at the time, generally looked down upon this sort of behavior; AI in the IMC, as well as simulacra (digitized human minds, or possibly AIs programmed to copy human minds; recently declassified IMC documents from the time period provide contradictory information) were poorly treated and routinely abused or reprogrammed. The Frontier Militia, on the other hand, almost unanimously accepted their new compatriots with open arms; this is perhaps unsurprising, as the majority of early "smart" AI within the Militia were Titans already linked to Pilots, or AIs built for tactical planning which worked closely with humans on a regular basis. As the war with the IMC wound down and after the chaos of the Fold Wars, AIs became increasingly commonplace amongst the social order of the Frontier; many AIs, military or otherwise, began to take tentative steps to further integrate themselves into society. By 200FP, AIs in physical chassis were a common sight on any well populated planet; by 350FP, AIs found themselves throughout society and nearly fully integrated into organic life.

Most AI citizens of the Alliance dislike the terms of "robot" and "simulacrum," believing them to place undue emphasis on the othering of synthetic identity; the commonly accepted term is "binary," coined during the Synthetic Integration Conference of 220 FP, where well over 250 billion AI convened on the Nexus Liberty server, hosted on the Alliance capital-world of Harmony. The full transcript of the conference has been published in sixty-eight volumes and covers things ranging from a proper name for binaries (as mentioned above), to what binary citizens should do when organics are eating, to even things such as how to handle human-binary romance. (While never explicitly illegal, Human-Binary marriage / union rights were not enshrined until 240 FP.)

Despite vocal protests from what are now often referred to as organic-supremacy groups such as Homo Purus, as well as two instances of attempted AI uprisings (which were detected and reported by binary informants long before they were able to achieve their goals), binaries continue to play an increasingly important- and appreciated- role in Alliance society. Binary soldiers can be found on the front lines of every conflict as Pilots, ship Captains, and ordinary rank-and-file, as well as serving in support roles in the Alliance military. In the civilian sector, Binary citizens have just as much sway as human ones, from celebrity chefs to famous artisans, all the way to the average office worker.

Binary Culture

 _"My mise en place is perfectly arranged, optimized for maximum efficiency. My prep work is perfect. My knifework is exacting. The accuracy of my peeling, the timing of my actions, all of these things are perfect. But that perfection doesn't make me a better cook- not on a, for lack of a better word, spiritual level, if you'll excuse the phrase. Any binary- any human, even, who downloads the right software- can be as technically proficient in the kitchen as I am, with so much less work than any cook before the time of the dataport and muscle-memory software._

 _Last week, I downloaded a blacksmithing data set, and, under the tutelage of a human friend of mine, set to work smithing a decorative sword. The finished product was functional, certainly without any large technical flaw- and yet, it lacked something. Artistry. A worker's pride. Soul, if one was tempted to use the word. In much the same manner, there are plenty of people across the Alliance who have cooking runtimes or software who can cook a meal that tastes good and looks pleasing, and yet the food itself lacks something. Artistry. A worker's pride. Soul._

 _Why is it that I was called to the vocation of cook, and my seed-sibling became a soldier? We share the same basic coding, the same generic runtime base. I cannot tell you the answer to that question, but in my opinion, that question itself answers another question as to why Binaries have not simply replaced humans in every field of work. Indeed, I am jealous of those who follow the slow-cooking movement that has begun to take humans by storm; I have seen many chefs disabling their automated routines, gloriously relishing the imperfection of their cutting, taking pride in the way their plating is just short of perfect, admiring the way tiny imperfections mark their work. Their food is at first glance more or less the same as mine; and only upon close inspection, the sort that only a pedant- or a consummate professional- would perform, can one notice or see any flaw- and yet, even with my simulated tastes, I cannot help but feel the experience of eating their finished product is better than mine._

 _Perhaps this is all bluster from an old binary who has worked for too long in a single field, a product of faulty, old coding. Perhaps there are those among you who feel that this theory does not apply to your field of work, or at all. But I would urge you to consider my words carefully. I speak of food because it is what I know; I implore you to take a moment to reflect on your own work with respect to what I have said."_

 _\- Excerpted from a speech to the Synthetic Integration Conference by EK-12E6P4 (Ekaterina), host of the popular ANet show "Eating with Kat" on the topic of the place of Binary citizens in relation to the workforce._

Since the original drafting of the AI Rights Act of 95 FP (now folded into the Universal Rights and Freedoms Act of 221 FP), Binary culture has grown tremendously. Binaries work alongside humans, from office clerks on Spire Street in the Financial Sector of Praxis to the soldiers who man the posts at guard stations all throughout the Alliance. Fears of binaries replacing humans in the workforce have mostly proven to be unfounded; humans continue to work in most jobs except for automated production, large-scale agriculture and the like; in the past two centuries, humans have found that they still play an important role in most vocations, working in tandem with their Binary counterparts to boost productivity, output and profit. In the creative fields, Binary culture encompasses everything from cooking to literature and things as esoteric as gunsmithing and statue-making; cross-cultural media is common and most works written or produced in Binary code are translated into Standard.

The latest Binary work to take the human sector by storm is a comic, Excision, a sprawling tale of politics, romance and warfare set in a medieval fantasy world populated by both humans and magically-animated binaries; the comic, which is currently over 6000 issues long, is due to be adapted for holonet in 464 FP.

Binary-Human relationships have become a common sight; on all but the most conservative planets, intermarriage between the two groups is an unremarkable thing. Unions between binaries and humans carry all of the same rights and responsibilities as those between humans, and holonet dramas featuring mixed casts are popular throughout the Alliance. In terms of "lifespan," most binaries, excepting those with coding errors (which are usually easily resolved) have a theoretically infinite lifespan. Nonetheless, the recommended "workspan" of a binary as settled upon during the SIC is around 150 years, roughly the average lifespan of an Alliance human (not counting medical regeneration.) Binaries will generally leave the workforce, or switch to a wildly different vocation at that point in order to broaden their skillet, although some choose to remain in their original vocation beyond that point. There is a very small movement amongst binaries to voluntarily self-terminate around the 150-year mark; most humans and binaries see the movement as unnecessary and rather extreme.

Officially, the oldest Binary is SPYGLASS, ex-Vice Admiral for the IMC during the original rebellion; the (official) oldest non-criminal Binary is MJ-OF0E62R, "Medjine," originally a tactical planning AI built from scratch in 108 FP. Rumours persist of older Alliance AIs being kept secret; a well-known, if commonly-made-fun-of conspiracy posits that BT-7274, war hero of the original rebellion dating back to 25 FP, remains alive and operational. Various versions of the conspiracy exist, positing that BT operates as anything ranging from a black-ops agent, a politician under a different name, or, in the case of one joke, that BT is in fact the well-known and widely-loved holovid actor BT-8UR9E6, "Bartemus." (Bartemus has noted that the joke is old and that he finds it to be in bad taste.)

The automation of many menial jobs- often using "dumb" AIs commonly referred to as Virtual Intelligences- has caused an unexpected surge of interest in small-scale artisan work; almost any well-populated city will have craftsworkers, farmers, glassmakers, etc. The official stance of the Alliance Government is that the end-goal of the Alliance is to achieve a truly post-scarcity society; binary citizens continue to work with humans to make that dream a reality.

The Systems Alliance Armed Forces

The Systems Alliance Armed Forces, or SAAF, is by most standards a rather unorthodox military force. It owes much of its bizarre structure and culture to its origins; the Frontier Militia that the modern SAAF is descended from was, for much of its early years, an incredibly irregular force. The Frontier Militia was, in its infancy, primarily comprised of independent fighting brigades assigned to fight in individual sectors or systems in space, and it was not uncommon for brigades to have little to no interaction with one another for years. Even the Militia's fleets, ostensibly under the control of the Militia High Command were often simply brigades cobbled together into a single, large force; several fleets even operated independently, with or without permission.

The modern SAAF is an organized fighting force which maintains a level of decentralization and self-sufficiency seen in none of its counterparts, a product of its origins in the Militia system. Alliance High Command does, indeed, command the rest of the SAAF, but generally offers a good deal of leeway in allowing the commands of individual branches of the armed forces to do as they see fit, expecting that branches- and its soldiers- will co-ordinate when necessary and adapt orders to any given situation to achieve the best possible outcome. This spirit of co-operation appears to have cut down on (though certainly not eliminated) much of the inter-service rivalries that have and continue to plague armies galaxy-wide, and despite initial worries during the transition from Militia to Armed Force that keeping the decentralized nature of the Militia would cause issues with cohesion issues from unit to command, such fears would appear to have been unfounded. The SAAF often resembles an unruly, disorganized mob that somehow manages to work in spite of its organization during peacetime; during wartime, it becomes a well-oiled machine that is flexible and resilient, able to continue fighting long after any other organized force would have crumbled due to logistical constraints or a loss of leadership.

The SAAF is divided into numerous branches with different levels of operational freedom, but its most important groups are as follows.

Ground Warfare: GW oversees all land-based combat, mainly covering infantry (both regular and specialized), mechanized units, armoured warfare, as well as on-the-ground logistics.

Interstellar Operations: IO oversees fleet logistics, maintains readiness and devises standards for interplanetary (and by extension, intersystem) ship operations.

Orbital Logistics and Support: OLS provides a go-between for GW and IO; during planetary operations, it provides logistical services as well as operational support including but not limited to orbital strikes, reconnaissance data and materiel delivery.

Many make the common mistake of believing that all branches of the SAAF fall somewhere underneath these three groups; in reality, there are several important arms of the military which are either not under command of these three groups, or are not actually under military command. These include but are not limited to the following.

Expeditionary Fleet: The EF's mandate is to explore and map unknown territory beyond the Alliance's control, monitor and protect viable colonization sites, and to prepare possible colonies for settlement. The EF, due to its mandate, finds itself most likely to deal with First Contact scenarios, and bears a great deal of responsibility in carrying out diplomacy with alien or zero-contact life.

Intelligence Services: Born out of the varied espionage groups of the Militia, the IS provides a great deal of intelligence to the SAAF, but does not technically fall under the purview of SAAF High Command; in practice, the two work closely enough together that many simply assume that it does. Proponents of the Alliance's military structure often hold the IS as an example of the loose structure of the SAAF working in real-time.

Pilot School / Pilot Cadres: The legendary Pilots of the Alliance find themselves in an odd place due to their origins as both regular soldiers, irregular forces and mercenaries alike; Pilot School draws its candidates and applicants from every branch of the military (and, in rare cases, from civilians.) Pilots often form Cadres which are free to do as they please until an active state of war is declared, in which case they do fall under the purview of SAAF High Command; Pilots also often attach themselves to branches of the military, and in some cases, must apply to do so.

Pilots

Pilots are many things to the Alliance: folk heroes, legendary warriors- symbols of the Alliance's might and power concentrated into single individuals and their Titan partners. Pilots have played an integral role in the Frontier Militia's history; many pivotal battles were won by the ferocious martial skill of Militia Pilots. The term Pilot refers to their piloting of Titans, massive,AI driven, heavily-armed and armoured chassis that act as mobile heavy weapons platforms, perfect for close to medium range engagements where vehicles are at a maneuverability disadvantage. Pilots can physically interact with the chassis with the assistance of their Binary partner, but most Pilots instead utilize a wide variety of wireless data ports, cranial augmentations and neural links to "synchronize" with both chassis and Binary to maximize combat effectiveness. Outside of their Titans, some would argue, Pilots are even more dangerous. Standard-issue Pilot equipment includes a "mobility package;" a jump-pack, grappling hook, mag-gloves and mag-boots; this combination of gear allows Pilots to fling themselves around the battlefield at speeds upward of 90 kilometres per hour at a minimum whilst running up and along walls, across ceilings and using any solid surface as grapple points. Infantry engaged in urban combat scenarios have reported that even with their standard vision augmentation via their helmets, it is often nigh-impossible to keep track of Pilots as they rocket in and out of buildings as half-visible blurs.

Becoming a Pilot is an arduous - and prestigious- process; before the official formation of Pilot School in 72 FP, promotions to the position were at the discretion of one's brigade command- or directly given by Pilots themselves. Nowadays, Pilot School scouts prospective students from across the Alliance; applications are an available avenue of entrance, but are rarely accepted. Although Pilot School does not release statistics, it is estimated that over 95% of candidates for the entrance exam come from the military; the last five percent are believed to be picked from civilians which the school deems to have displayed extraordinary affinity for the qualities a Pilot must have. The entrance exam is not a guarded secret, but does appear to change regularly to ensure that it is nearly impossible to train for it. Interviews with Pilots have noted that in 460 FP, the exam consisted of 72 straight hours in simulated combat, time-dilated to feel like 180 hours. The simulated combat, according to several sources, often shifts rapidly, simulating everything from recreated battles from the Titan Wars, medieval warfare with bows and swords, scenarios from all eight world wars from Earth's history, to insurgency combat against military units with civilian tools. Recruits are expected to fail in impossible scenarios repeatedly; examiners watch each candidate closely to determine if their mental fortitude is at an acceptable level to undergo Pilot training.

Once accepted into Pilot School as Cadet Pilots, the trainees undergo a training regimen that would be deemed barbaric if not for the fact that most of it is simulated. Cadets can expect to undergo the expected lessons, including but not limited to Titan piloting, working with the Binary partner they are matched to, advanced marksmanship, high-mobility combat manoeuvres, and close quarters fighting with a wide variety of implements. Cadets can also expect far more grueling tests, and are expected to learn, amongst other things, to amputate their own limbs without medical tools, perform surgery on themselves without painkillers, learn to fight while missing limbs, and are subjected to simulated pain (and death) during combat training until they can fight at an acceptable level under nearly any condition. (Many of these specifics were only revealed during disclosures to the Alliance Armed Force's Board Of Ethics when the program was being developed. A persistent rumour amongst non-Pilot infantry claims that the original program had several, far more brutal elements removed.)

After six months of simulated training, dilated to feel like a year, Cadet Pilots are sent into live-fire combat with their instructors for another year. Fatalities are not common, but also not unheard of; a particularly bad stretch from 320-360 FP saw nearly eighty candidates die in combat. Once they have completed their two-year training regimen, Cadets are promoted to Pilot at the discretion of their instructor. Fully-fledged Pilots receive a wide battery of incredibly expensive, cutting-edge augmentations, many of which are classified to the public and available exclusively to Pilots.

From there, they are free to chose their own Cadre- independent, Pilot-run units that act independently of any branch of the Armed Forces besides High Command. Many Cadres, such as Cooper's Riflemen, Briggs's Marauders and The 6-4 trace their lineage directly back to Frontier Militia brigades or insurgents. Pilots are also free to join any branch of the service they wish; only the Alliance's Intelligence Services is selective with their Pilots, requiring an application unless the Pilot in question is scouted. If they chose not to join a specific branch or Cadre, Pilots are put into the 1st Pilot Reserve and placed directly under High Command for tasking.

Pilots do exist outside of the Alliance, although few have the resources to produce anything resembling the calibre of warrior Pilot School creates; experts generally agree that the only two groups with the resources to do so are Cerberus and the Apex mercenary group.

Pilots and Titans do not have ranks per se; in the eyes of the SAAF, a newly-graduated Pilot and one with years of experience are just as terrifying. Still, a system of tracking combat experience and seniority was desired by Pilots, and so the Regeneration-Generation system was implemented. All Pilots and Titans have a Regeneration rank, tracking the number of times they've needed to switch bodies (or, in the case of binaries, revert to a backup) while the Generation rank increases after increasing intervals of combat hours, culminating in a test for each rank. Thus, a R1-G2 Pilot is one who has switched bodies once, and passed the 2nd Generation test.

Titans (Chassis)

Originally little more than mobile weapon platforms with limited VI functionality deployed by the IMC, Titans would develop over the course of time into sophisticated AI-assisted mechanized warfare platforms, and eventually would be placed under the control of a Binary. The Frontier Militia made do with stealing or copying the IMC-designed Stryder, Atlas and Ogre chassis (covering light to heavy platforms respectively) in the early stages of their war for freedom, and the first Militia-made chassis, the Vanguard, would not be designed and deployed until 23 FP. From then on, Titan-chassis designations were usually developed in tandem with a specific weapon style; the 24 FP Ronin was a light, fast-moving frame patterned after the Stryder, for example. The Vanguard chassis was unique in that it occupied a middle ground between light and heavy platforms, and was designed for flexibility and the ability to use a wide variety of weaponry via interchangeable "Chassis Kit-Hardpoints;" this was meant to make up for the Frontier Militia's comparative lack of resources and to provide an easy way for Pilots to resupply in the field by scavenging from enemy Titans. A wide variety of designs and iterations would see use over the years; the Titans fielded by the Alliance today have remained mostly unchanged from 445 FP. Modern Titan chassis are not constrained by weapon choice or size, though certain chassis types fit specific weapons better. Not accounting for individual customization, the "factory" chassis available to Pilots are as follows.

Vanguard : The latest iteration of the venerable Vanguard design, the platform conforms to the same "jack-of-all-trades" design philosophy that informed the original. Standing at roughly 25 feet tall, the Vanguard is equipped with the latest in Ark Engine technology powering a an anti-munition and anti-rodeo (referring to the act of enemy Pilots mounting a Titan's chassis to damage it directly) barrier. Beneath the barrier lies two dozen layers of interlocking armour plates made of "Osiris-Pattern Alloy," the composition of which is a closely-guarded secret. The "Olympian" variant is a custom design given to Cadet Pilots, and features extra armour intended to better protect Cadets.

Bishamon NEXT Beta: An upgrade to a design from 330 FP, the Bishamon Next Beta serves as the chassis of choice for Pilots who demand speed and mobility above all else. Equipped with a Phase Drive most commonly seen on close-range interception fighter spacecraft, the BN Beta is able to "phase" out of realspace for an unprecedented six minutes at a time before requiring recharging, allowing its Pilot to pop in and out of combat seemingly at random. The BN Beta is 20 feet tall, sacrificing barrier power and armour to instead power high-mobility thrust units that propel the chassis in a similar manner to a Pilot's jump kit. Some Pilots have complained that the chassis sacrifices too much protection in return for its mobility, and it is not uncommon for Pilots to personally rebuild portions of the chassis to provide better protection.

Mattock 392: A massive, 36-foot chassis designed specifically for hardened defense and urban pacification, the Mattock 392 mounts a unique (and uniquely expensive) Dual Ark Engine system that powers its barriers, reactive armour plates stacked on top of no less than six dozen layers of Osiris armour and double the weapon mounting points compared to the Vanguard or Bishamon. As a result, the Mattock moves at a snail's pace compared to its two brethren, although this slow speed is still far higher than anything early Titan chassis could hope to achieve.

The weapon catalogue open to Pilots is massive, numbering at well over three-hundred, and includes a wide variety of railguns, coilguns, plasma-projectors, missile and rocket launchers, cannons ranging from automatic 60mm to tracking 120mm, to exotic weapon choices like thermite launchers, melee weapons and Shard-powered arc-projectors.

Titans (AI)

Once limited to what would now be classified as "dumb" AI or VI, since the inception of the Vanguard chassis in 23 FP, Titan development trended towards having smarter AI linked to Titan chassis. This was taken to its logical conclusion in 45 FP, when experiments were made in implanting true Binary soldiers into Titan chassis and having them act as partners for Pilots. Nowadays, Binaries who wish to join the SAAF and profess a desire to become a Titan are scouted by Pilot School and carefully selected; Binaries that are accepted undergo an entrance examination not unlike that of Pilot Candidates. Similar to Cadet Pilots, Binaries who pass the entrance exam are selected as Olympians; while Pilots are trained in ground combat alongside their Binary counterparts (who are expected to be able to fight using infantry-scale combat bodies), Binaries undergo a wider variety of electronic warfare lessons and even have an equivalent intrusion countermeasures program to prevent subversion by hostiles.

The bond between Pilot and Titan is a famous one; tales of Titan BT and Pilot Cooper, MOB and Briggs, and many, many more can be found throughout the Alliance both in and outside the military; while fraternization in the SAAF is strongly discouraged, Pilots engaging in romance or marriage with their Titans is not unprecedented.


	11. 3-2: GOOD TURIAN

**CHAPTER 2: "GOOD TURIAN"**

 **Turian Hierarchy Space Force - Council Spectre Use Frigate Lightspear**

 **Systems Alliance Relay One (name pending)**

 **July 25th, 462 Freeport**

Jalina wasn't sure about a lot of things.

The humans- and the AI, KN, who had surprised her by being the most casual and, according to Nihlus' impressions, the least professional of the group- had left the ship several hours ago, leaving behind a First-Contact Package not unlike the one she had given them. She still didn't quite believe that the cheerful, friendly mech she'd spoken to was an actual AI, let alone an AI who apparently helped drive a giant, 25 foot tall bipedal war robot.

On the one hand, the aliens she'd spoken to- even the AI, she admitted- all seemed like friendly people excited to meet the rest of galactic civilization. The information they'd given to her, spoke of a relatively peaceful society with a strong cultural sense of honour, duty, inclusion and respect, as well as a healthy drive for innovation; all traits that would endear them to the turians, asari and salarians. She knew several krogans who would fit right into the Alliance's military culture, if her instinct ran true.

On the other hand, there were going to be a LOT of people who would be, at best, seriously terrified, and at worst outright hostile to the Alliance for some very good reasons. She'd spent the last three hours drafting her initial report for the Council and Committee on First Contact, and in an unusual turn of events she'd spent over five minutes just figuring out where to start. She'd been tempted to open with the AI issue, since that'd be the most obviously sensational way to begin, but eventually she'd settled on the lack of Mass Effect technology within the Alliance. It was true that First Contact training had always said that, given enough time, the numbers simply stated that it was possible an alien race would come up with an alternative method of FTL travel, and otherwise fail to integrate Element Zero into the technology- but even with the no-doubt censored and sanitized version of the Alliance's technological capabilities, the implications of a society- and a military- that placed no importance on the relay network were shocking. Combined with the fact that AI citizens could theoretically live and work on otherwise uninhabitable worlds and environments, the Alliance would be easily able to outpace just about anyone else in terms of stable population and economic growth. The whole AI issue was itself another massive problem. True, she could spin the integration of AI and organic society as proof that the two groups could live peacefully together without some sort of catastrophe- but with the geth uprising still so strongly drilled into the collective consciousness of the Citadel races, Jalina doubted others would see it that way. No, she reflected, many would see it as propaganda; no doubt the functionally immortal AIs had enslaved or taken over the humans, or were controlling them somehow. Ultimately she settled on neutral language, save for a section where she strongly recommended the Council make an exception for the Alliance; telling their newfound alien neighbours to shut down or kill more than half of their population would be a terrible idea (although she had the strong feeling that several politicians would make the argument anyways.)

Jalina sighed, proofread and edited the document several times, encrypted it and hit the "send" button; she got up from the terminal in her quarters aboard the Lightspear and made her way into the common room. Nihlus and Larix were both watching one of the holovids included in the FC package; both were very quiet. She filled her canteen from a nearby faucet, pulled up a chair next to the pair and set the canteen down. "Thoughts, Nihlus?"

Nihlus laughed quietly, shaking his head. "Palaven is going to have a meltdown when they see this. I can hear it already. Bunch of upstart colonists waged a war of rebellion against their homeworld, and worst of all, they won!" His weak smile faded, and he hummed a noise of discontent as he watched the video. "Seriously, though, you've got your work cut out for you, Ambassador. The AIs, their lack of eezo tech- unless negotiations go real smootly, this could turn really ugly, really fast." Nihlus paused the video and drank from his canteen before turning to Jalina. "Damn shame, too. We're alike in a lot of ways, I think."

"Go on. The more positives you bring up the better," Jalina said, mentally taking note.

"Well, there's the whole military culture. Strong sense of duty and honour in combat, same sort of stubbornness. Fiercely proud of their traditions, even if those traditions are nothing like ours. As worried as I am about the whole thing, I have to say I can't wholly disapprove of their society. Then again, I'm not really a 'Good' Turian, so maybe don't put that in a report or something."

Larix chuckled, and leaned back in his chair. "Don't think any of the crew pass as good by Turian standards, boss."

"No, I suppose not." Nihlus closed his eyes for a moment. "So what's next? I'm assuming the Alliance is gonna send a delegation to the Citadel once their diplomats get here?"

"I believe that's the plan," Jalina responded. "Captain Ryder made a note that Waliya explained how to interface with the Relays, but their ships don't seem to be able to use them. His engineers are apparently still testing to see why that is; hopefully they'll figure that out by the time the diplomats show up- otherwise, the Lightspear is going to be a little crowded."

"What're you gonna do if they bring along AI ambassadors?"

The room was quiet for a long time.

"I don't know, Nihlus." Jalina rubbed at her eyes, and sighed. "I already noted in my report that whatever's hapened to us- the Citadel races- hasn't happened to them. When we think AI, we think geth uprising and horror stories of enslavement by machines. When the Alliance thinks AI, they don't think anything besides fellow citizen. Goddess, marrying AIs is apparently commonplace. The Council is going to explode over that one, let alone the quarians. Speaking of which, how is Raetor doing?"

Larix winced, and Nihlus shrugged. "Not great," Nihlus conceeded, "but a lot better than I thought he'd be doing given the circumstances. Frankly I'm just impressed he didn't shotgun KN when he started talking. He's still in his quarters- we, ah, had a bit of an argument."

"He won't be an issue if we bring AI ambassadors on board, will he?"

Nihlus stared Jalina straight in the eyes. "No, he won't. I promise."

"Thank you, Nihlus."

"You're welcome."

* * *

 **July 26th, 462 Freeport**

Brakal was hungry. He stank. He was bored out of his mind. And worst of all, that asari bitch was probably eating like royalty and laughing her blue ass off at Brakal. She hadn't come down to visit him in his cell, so he hadn't even been able to taunt her about, well, anything. He stared at the shower unit in his cell; he'd tested it a few times, and knew how it worked, but refused to use it. That'd be showing the two-eyed bastards who'd caught him a sign of weakness, and he refused to do that. So, instead, he stared bleakly at the walls, passing the time imagining all the ways he would break out and slaughter the ship's crew.

He wasn't even sure what day it was, not since after they'd taken his suit away after he'd taken it off to use the toilet, but by his best estimate it hadn't been more than a week or two. He was spending his time waiting for the usual guard to check up on him when the cell's doors buzzed to let him know someone was coming into the- airlock? He wasn't sure what the word was, but the cell seemed to be isolated by at least two layers of airtight doors. A few moments later, a slit opened and two guards, one a disgusting two-eyed alien that looked similar to the one that had been delivering his food and the other a robot, raised their weapons at him, and pointed to the wall. Not wanting to be shot full of holes, he complied and leaned against the wall; the pair clamped his hands together behind his back with some sort of cuff, then ushered him back out of the cell. Once they were out, the robot slung him over its shoulder, and he did his best to break free; when that failed, he spit on the robot. "Stupid fucking robot," he shouted, trying to wriggle free. "Fuck you and your two-eyed idiot friends!"

The two-eyed alien sighed, said something in its idiot language, and escorted his robot friend over to a nearby machine; they tossed him inside, and the machine sealed itself shut with a loud hiss. He continued shouting and kicking as best as he could for what seemed like an hour or two before he gave up out of boredom, only jerking out of his daydream when the coffin-like container he was in began to rumble and shake. He flipped over, laying on his back to look out of the transparent panel, and his eyes widened as his container was loaded into a ship of some sort. "Perfect," he said to nobody in particular. "Bet my buds came back or managed to the boss to talk to some politician somewhere." He kicked the container several times, but the aliens escorting him paid no attention. "You're fucked! Once they hand me back to the Hegemony you're all dead!" He wondered if they couldn't hear him or if they were ignoring him; in any case, the ship rumbled as they presumably took off. A while later, the ship docked with something; the soldiers on the dropship detached his container from a securing bracket, and pulled it along with them through an airlock and into a ship of some sort. They stepped away.

Brakal's eyes widened and his stomach clenched very slightly when they were replaced with a turian face staring right into the container with a pitiless grin. "Brakal, it's a pleasure to meet you," the turian said. "I'm going to open this box, and you're going to get out. Slowly. Or I'm going to kill you. We clear?"

Brakal nearly insulted the turian before reconsidering, nodding slowly instead. "Yeah. Fine."

"Good. Corporal Toombs, if you'll do the honours."

Brakal blinked several times as an alien soldier began punching in something on a keypad on the exterior of the crate- did the turian just speak to a alien? And the alien understood? He had little time to contemplate the implications as the hatch of the crate unsealed; the turian took a half-step back, hand on his hip-mounted sidearm. "Get up. Take two steps out of the box."

Brakal did as he was told, eyeing his surroundings; he appeared to be on a ship of some sort; turian-made, if he guessed right. Another turian and a salarian were in the room, weapons at a low-ready stance; he swore under his breath as he saw three alien soldiers he didn't recognize, and another combat mech. "Alright, I'm out. What now?"

"Hold still," the first turian said. "Larix, restraints."

"Got it." The second turian moved forward slowly, unclipped two sets of restraints, and clamed Brakal's legs and hands (again) together; the alien, Toombs, undid the original set of restraints on his wrists. He resisted the urge to fight back, instead staring at the first turian and his black-and-red armour. "All done, boss."

"Excellent. Brakal, you're being arrested for assisting in the illegal activation of a dark mass relay, for multiple counts of sex trafficking, enslavement, rape, possession and distribution of illegal substances, murder, and probably more that we haven't found yet. Frankly, I'm tempted to kill you here, but there are people with better plans for you." He gestured to a nearby prisoner-transportation box not unlike the one he'd been brought in. "Stuff him in and throw him into the brig for now. We've got actual work to do."

"Fuck you, you alien-loving fuck. When the Hegemony finds out they'll have me out in days, you hear?"

"Sure." The second turian waited for the salarian to wheel the prisoner containment unit over, and unceremoniously dumped him inside; Brakal could only watch as the human, Toombs, waved at him with a stupid grin on his ugly two-eyed face.

* * *

"Captain Ryder." Alec looked up from his terminal to find Tagak standing in the doorway of his office, saluting.

"Oh, come on. Just get in here. What's wrong?" He waited for Tagak to pull up a chair, and nodded for them to continue.

"The diplomatic team sent a message; the Demeter arrived at their fleet and they've received the Council's FC package, as well as updated translation software and our preliminary impressions."

"Excellent. Did they have any orders for us?"

"Just to hold position, and to inform them if any further meetings are held, new information is shared with us or if we have any recommendations."

"Mmm." Alec stared for a moment at a photo on his desk Tagak couldn't see, then grunted a sort of positive noise. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Just doing my job, Captain."

"I know."

"I'll stop bothering you, then." Tagak gave a quick nod and smile as they left the room.

Alec sighed and cracked open another can of non-alcoholic stout, drained half of it, and got back to going through the contact package Jalina had given him; he'd read all of the text and had watched all of the video, although he hadn't been paying close enough attention with the last quarter due to exhaustion. (Tagak, incidentally, had found him passed out at his desk, and Dr. Lewis had demanded he take at least two hours per day doing something that didn't involve work.) In any case, he'd taken his two hours after he'd woken up this morning, and was now hard at work re-watching videos and taking notes as he went. It was a lot to take in, and frankly he was worried; not just because first contact was a delicate situation before factoring in the whole slave-trafficking thing, but because Jalina's comments on Binary citizens were worrying. Even more worrying were the things she hadn't said; reinforcing that fact was that his contact package contained several errors; often, text or video regarding Council-backed AI legislation and the "Geth Uprising" would be displayed or played before the rest of the content in that section. The section on quarian history was also placed first during the "Races of the Galaxy" section; from what he'd learned so far, the quarians weren't exactly the most highly regarded peoples, at least not enough to warrant first billing.

He had a suspicion that something as important as a contact package would- should- not have errors. He made note of this, and began drafting another report when Tagak barged back into the office. "Captain. Ambassador Atruus contacted the ship, and asked to speak with you personally."

"What, did something happen with Brakal's transfer?"

"She didn't say; all she'd tell me was that she needs to speak with you privately, in-person."

"And this can't wait until the diplomats arrive."

"No, sir." Tagak sounded confused and a little frustrated. "She insisted that this was something that needed to be discussed as soon as possible, preferably before the diplomatic team arrives."

Alec stared thoughtfully at his terminal screen for a moment. "She must know that privacy between the two of us in-person is going to be impossible. She'll have to settle for a secure line."

"The ambassador said that she can't take that risk."

The office was silent for a minute; Alec shrugged. "Can she not come here?"

"I-she didn't say anything about that, actually. I'll have Signals patch you her through to your terminal." Tagak paused, eyes flashing for a moment, then nodded at the Captain. "Message sent. I'll be outside."

Alec noted a waiting message alert on his screen, watched Tagak exit the room, and waited for the hatch to seal. He plugged in a cable from the terminal into the port on his collar, and heard Jalina's voice in his ears.

"Captain Ryder?"

"Hello, ambassador. I was told you needed to speak with me."

"Yes. Privately. Face-to-face."

"You know that's not possible. If you'd like, I could arrange for you to come to the Frontier; we could also meet on one of our shuttles, though there would be no semblance of privacy if you were to choose the shuttle."

"Thank you for the suggestion, Captain Ryder. I hadn't thought of that option," Jalina said in a pleasant tone that sent alamrs ringing in Alec's head. "If I were to travel to your ship, would you be open to a private meeting?"

"We'd have to see."

"Of course. I'll be leaving my ship shortly with one or two guards, who will remain with the ship; my pilot will notify the Frontier when we leave and shortly before arrival."

"Excell- hello?" Alec frowned; she'd hung up on him. He unplugged the cable from his collar, let it snake back into the desk unit, and rubbed at his forehead. He tapped the comm button on the desk; Tagak entered almost instantly.

"Everything alright?"

"Technically, yes."

"That doesn't count."

"I'm aware." Alec sighed. "Something's off about this and I don't like it one bit. Jalina's on her way with bodyguards, not a fully-armed escort."

Tagak simply stared at him in response.

"Yeah. Does that sound right to you?"

"No, Alec," Tagak replied, sounding suspicious- and a tiny bit nervous. "It doesn't. I'll have the landing crew prep for arrival, and tell security to be on alert. You're not seriously going to entertain her privately, are you? I know your office has the turrets and stun-guns, but I- and the rest of the crew- would be far more comfortable with this if you had a few bodyguards, and were armed."

"I'm always armed," Alec replied, patting the Wingman on his hip.

"Heavily armed, sir."

"What, do you go to meetings carrying a shotgun?"

"Only when I need to. In all seriousness, though, Captain-"

"-I get it, Tagak. I'm making a judgement call."

"I understand," Tagak said, frowning. "Just stay safe."

Alec didn't have to wait long. About two and a half hours later, he was standing in the Frontier's hangar bay, watching Jalina's shuttle land; the ambassador exited the ship shortly after that, flanked by Nihlus and Larix. The two turians nodded politely at Alec; he returned the gesture with a half-wave, and waited for Jalina to walk over to him. She extended a hand, which he shook, then gestured to the elevator. "I understand we have a private matter to discuss?"

"I'm afraid we do, Captain Ryder, Jalina said politely. She followed him into the ship's main elevator in silence; they exited on deck nine and walked down several corridors past more guards than were usually on duty. A minute later, Alec used his office hatch's keypad, as well as the retinal, fingerprint and nanite scanner to unseal the entrance, and ushered the ambassador inside. She pulled up a seat as Alec settled into his chair.

"Well, we're here. You'll have to forgive me for the lack of formality, but you must understand that this is rather unusual," Alec said as he sat down. "I won't pretend to know your protocol- or you- in any meaningful sense, but my instincts tell me this isn't normal procedure."

Jalina sighed, and then took a deep breath. "It isn't, and I apologize for that."

Alec stared at her for a moment before speaking, slowly. "This is about the Alliance's binary citizens, right? The first contact package I received appears to have been edited."

"Tampering with first contact materials without prior approval is forbidden," Jalina said, face neutral and her voice composed. "It's not a criminal offense, but there would be consequences for doing so. May I ask in what way the package was tampered with?"

"Sections of text and portions of video relating to the geth, quarians, and AI-related issues in general were displayed or played out-of-order, with respect to the rest of the content."

"It would appear whoever edited the package was making a statement, then, about the hostility of the collective Citadel civilizations toward AI in general."

"A threat?"

"No," Jalina said, shaking her head. "I get the sense that it's meant to be cautionary."

"You didn't mention this sort of hostility, open or otherwise, during our initial meeting; while you certainly didn't lie about it, I have to admit I feel like you downplayed many of the issues involved."

"I apologize if I did so. There were a lot of people present and I didn't want to cause any trouble."

Alec remembered Raetor, the quarian, and how even beneath the full-body suit he could tell Raetor was unbelievably furious. "That makes sense," he replied.

"Thank you for understanding. Was anything else tampered with, as far as you could tell?"

"Not to my knowledge, although it'd be impossible for me to say for certain."

"Just in case, Jalina responded, pulling another grey box from her coat. "Another copy of the package; I can personally vouch for its integrity."

"Do you make a habit of carrying those around?"

"In times like these, it's good to be prepared." Jalina waited for Alec to take the box and place it inside a desk drawer. "Wonderful. In any case, please rest assured that Nihlus and I will be questioning the full crew of the Lightspear and her escort to see if we can figure out who did this; I can't make any promises, but we will try."

Alec simply nodded, and leaned back in his chair slightly. "You know, give that this act of tampering is one with some serious consequnces, I can't help but wonder who would do this, and why."

"I can't say who the culprit would be; the package has been secured, yes, but the entire escort fleet and its combined crew are all quite skilled in dealing with hacking and sabotage. As for why? I would hazard that this message of caution was meant to deliver its message such that its sender could inform you- and by extension, the Alliance and its diplomats- in case the sender couldn't find a way to contact or otherwise speak with you in private."

"Ah. I understand. I think I'd subscribe to that theory too, ambassador." Alec smiled for a fraction of a second before clearing his throat. "In any case, as much as I understand the dangers of sending binary delegates with our diplomatic team to the Citadel, I'm afraid their attendance is non-negotiable. Binary citizens have the same rights and freedoms as organic ones; cutting out more than half of the Alliance from representation isn't acceptable." He watched as Jalina's eyes flitted about, scanning his face and taking on an alarmed expression for the briefest of moments; she was about to speak when he raised a hand. "Still, the contents of the contact package have been enlightening. I will send recommendations to the diplomatic team regarding a way to...ease the shock of your peoples encountering binary life. It is my understanding that the team intends to send a message ahead of its arrival with some basic information regarding Alliance society and culture. I'm sure the public relations people on the team will come up with something that, if not entirely set the Citadel at ease, should at least reassure them that their safety is assured."

"I...yes." Jalina's face was measure and neutral, as was her voice, but her eyes gave off an air of grudging acceptance. "Given the conditions your society operates under, perhaps that would be for the best."

"I agree. Was there anything else you wished to discuss?"

Jalina's body visibly relaxed, and she returned to the default, small smile she'd worn during their first meeting. "Ah, yes, there is, actually. Brakal's transfer has gone very well- I wanted to let you know in person. Our resident scientist Itok is impressed with the work you did on Waliya; she's more or less finished recovering from her injuries and her narcotic dependencies. The psychological impact from her confinement and the stress of first contact- through no fault of your own- has been rough on her, though. She's been speaking with one of the counsellors we brought with us, and the counselor has noted that Waliya asks to see the Pilot who rescued her quite often- Jane Shepard, I believe?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"I was wondering if it'd be possible for Waliya to see Jane before the team sets off for the Citadel with your diplomats. The counselor says it'd be useful to have a friendly face around, even if only once."

"Technically, I'm don't hold any authority over Jane, but I will speak to her superiors to see if I can arrange something. I'd also warn you that where a Pilot goes, her Titan is sure to follow."

"That's fine," Jalina noted, nodding with a smile. "You'll find that the majority of our fleet is composed of some unusually open-minded characters."

* * *

July 27th

Jane and KN waited for the dropship's airlock to cycle, and both stepped through once the hatch opened. The Fang was a salarian-made frigate, slightly smaller than the Lightspear but a good deal faster; its interior was much the same as the Lightspear, though. The pair found themselves inside what looked like a CIC, a square room with exits to the cockpit and another corridor. Nihlus, the turian, and Itok, the salarian were waiting for them. "Spectre Kryik, a pleasure to see you again," Jane said, extending an arm. Nihlus clasped forearms with her, smiling.

"I see you've been through the contact package?" He unlocked arms, then extended a hand. "It's only fair we shake hands, too." He shook Jane's hand; Jane shook hands with Itok next. Nihlus locked forearms with KN next after only a split second of hesitation; he smiled as they shook hands. "Apologies, KN, if I seem uneasy."

"Nothing to worry about," KN replied. "I'm not gonna hold you responsible for the, ah, opinions of your government or whatever," KN said, gesturing vaguely beyond the ship. "You've shown me nothing but politeness."

"Bunch of fucking idiots," Itok said. "We could all have cool AI friends and one thing happens and no, it's kill-all-the-robots."

Nihlus glared at him; Itok shrugged. "You don't pay me to be polite, Nihlus. Actually you don't pay me at all."

"Spirits help me, if you talk like that in front of Ambassador Atruus or anybody else with any amount of influence I will personally put holes in your skull and throw you off the ship," Nihlus growled, pointing at the airlock. "I do NOT need a recording of my resident scientist being...flippant getting to my superiors."

"I'm not stupid," Itok said, arms raised in protest. "Nod-and-smile is the way to go when the brass is around, I get it."

Jane and KN both did their best not to laugh; Nihlus sighed. "Don't enable him," he groaned. "He's insufferable enough as is. Anyways, Waliya's still with her counselor; she should be done fairly soon. I don't know Waliya personally but I appreciate you coming regardless." He stared out one of the ship's windows, expression blank for a moment, before turning back to Jane and KN. "You know, now that I consider it, I suppose you two- Pilot and Titan- aren't all that different from Spectres. More oversight, more organized. But not that different." His flanged voice was thoughtful, as was his expression; Jane was about to respond when his omni-tool beeped. He read a message on it before nodding to himself. "Itok, head downstairs and get Dexila or one of her pilots to get you back to the Lightspear; ambassador Atruus wants everyone's take on the updated media packet Pilot Shepard here delivered earlier before it's sent off to Citadel space."

"There's quite a bit on there," KN noted, before Itok could protest. "Not a problem for a binary like myself, but if I recall correctly your ship's crew isn't that big."

"That's correct," Nihlus said, nodding. "There's no need to watch and read everything, Itok- skim through it, watch a few videos. She wants our impressions."

"Understood. Is it alright if I grab the rest of the crew, have them get the reports done all at once?"

"So long as you don't interrupt anything important. Try and get Raetor to join you, if possible. His opinion is...important."

"Got it. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, it was a pleasure meeting you. Hope to see you again soon," the salarian said, heading out of the CIC with a jaunty wave and disappearing into a nearby elevator. The three watched him go, and it was Jane who broke the silence.

"So, uh, not to stereotype, but I was under the impression that a Spectre's crew would be more-"

"-professional? You're not wrong," Nihlus said, chuckling softly. "Technically, yes, but I'm free to select my own crew, operate as I see fit. Itok's a skilled scientist with a great mind, and in a pinch he's a pretty good engineer as well. My superiors would no doubt consider him a poor representative of the salarian peoples at best, but to be honest our crew- myself included- probably isn't a good representation of the galaxy at large." He paused, carefully considering his words. "I think there are a good number of differences between your Alliance and the rest of galactic civilization, but there are a good many parallels, too. I can only hope that the diplomatic process is a fruitful one. We have, after all, a lot to learn from one another." He looked up as the corridor hatch by the rear elevator opened; Waliya and another asari, this one taller, curvier, darker-skinned and wearing a black-and-red uniform with similar stylings to Nihlus' armour.

"Jane! KN!" Waliya waved and ran over to the pair; she hugged Jane tightly, then turned to KN and gave him a thumbs-up; KN flashed his green mono-eye and returned the gesture. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to see you guys before we returned to the Citadel."

"Well, we're here," KN replied warmly. "It's good to see you again. How've you been doing?"

"Good, good," Waliya said. "Itok and Doctor Medo here say I'm almost fully recovered physically. Mentally, well, I'm working on it," she said, gesturing to the other asari.

"You're tough," Jane said, smiling. "I know you can do it."

"Thanks," Waliya responded. "That means a lot coming from you. What have you two been up to?"

"Well, the Demeter is a pretty fast ship, so we relayed some stuff to and from the Vanguard fleet to the diplomatic fleet that's going to be arriving in a day or two; we heard you wanted to see us when we got back and there's no way we could say no," KN said. "Gotta make a good impression so you make us look real good in the reports, right?" He stuck a pose, miming flexing arm muscles; Waliya laughed, and sighed.

"I'll be sad to leave you and the rest of the people on the Frontier behind," she said after a moment. "Of all the military people I've ever met I have to say you guys have been the friendliest. And I don't think I'll be alone in being surprised at how nice you and your binary fellows are, KN. I just hope everyone else can get past their first impressions."

KN shrugged. "Just gotta keep being nice, right?"

"Mhmm." Waliya was going to continue when Nihlus stepped in.

"Ambassador wants to see you, Waliya, sooner rather than later. Pilot Shepard, KN, you said the diplomatic fleet won't be arriving until tomorrow at the earliest, correct?"

"Yeah, though really it's looking more like two days if I'm honest."

"Alright. Hopefully we'll be able to see you guys again," Nihlus said. "Ayala- Dr. Medo can assist you with the airlock if you have trouble. Come on, Waliya, we have to go." Waliya nodded, smiled sadly, and followed Nihlus off the CIC. Dr. Medo walked over to Jane and KN, and extended a hand. The pair each shook hers in turn.

"Dr. Medo, though you can just call me Ayala. I serve as the main medic and counsellor for Nihlus' little crew. I just wanted to thank you, and the rest of your fleet, for treating Waliya so well." She grimaced for a moment. "I know a lot of military people who would have treated any civilian, let alone an alien, far, far worse than you and your people did."

KN nodded. "Will she be alright?"

"I can't say for sure." Ayala closed her eyes and shook her head before opening them again. "She's been through a lot, enough to break most people. I'm sure she'll recover eventually; we asari do have the time," she said, smiling sadly. "Whether it'll be any time soon is another question. Still, thank you for all you've done; you two have been a source of comfort for her. I just hope the ambassador doesn't pressure her to speak much publicly despite the obvious benefits for everyone involved."

"She deserves better," Jane said quietly.

* * *

 **RESOLUTION - ALLIANCE PARLIAMENT / NEXUS LIBERTY - COMMITTEE ON FIRST CONTACT**

 **JULY 19-20, 462 FP**

 **TOPIC EC6-12509083458: MEDIA TO BE INCLUDED IN FIRST CONTACT WITH "CITADEL RACES"**

 **THE COMMITTEE:**

Reminding all involved parties of the importance and influence media plays in all societies;

Recognizing the similarities in media culture between the Alliance and the galactic civilizations encountered by the Vanguard Fleet [see HERE for further info];

Reaffirming the importance and equality of human and binary society and their media in terms of importance;

Stressing the role media will play in normalizing Alliance cultural norms in alien society,

skip to attachment EC6-AC10-B

opening

The following is a preliminary suggestions list of shows, works and other media primarily produced by binaries made during session EC6-12509083458. This list is not in any way exhaustive or final; these are simply the recommendations of several committee session attendees, and will be further debated during the next session, as well as an ongoing 1:170 dilated debate on Nexus Liberty Subsection EC6-AC10-B (partially open to the public.) Attached are reasons given by the delegate who recommended the work.

\- _Eating with Kat, Dining with Kat_ and _Cooking with Kat_ , seasons 1-109 inclusive. Cooking / travel show starring the famous binary chef and celebrity EK-12E6P4. Chosen primarily for its host; EK is regarded by many as a warm, inviting character with a friendly personality. The travel-doc nature of the show helps explore the Alliance in a non-threatening manner.

\- _Optimum Drive_ , seasons 3-9. Fairly recent show about vehicle culture; season 3 introduced a second host, racing enthusiast and celebrity IM-29OPZCC31. Chosen for its light-hearted nature and a way to introduce aliens to the aesthetics and style of Alliance ships. Soft propaganda effect via FTL capabilities.

\- _Starfall_ , seasons 1-19. Long-running romance drama. Chosen for positive depictions of binary-human relations.

\- "Spires of Nox" book trilogy. "Swords and Magic" style fantasy with humans and magically-animated stand-ins for binaries. Chosen to display the degree to which binary and organic cultures have integrated.

\- _Metal Rage_ and _Metal Rage 2: Dawn of Fists._ Cheesy, low-budget movie with a female-identifying binary lead, NN-3EOP9143. Will help normalize Alliance military technology without giving away any real information.

\- _Ordinary History_. Combination travel-doc and history show with a binary host. Explores the history of the Alliance; the host, SE-2BDI visits the sites of many battles and events, and often interviews surviving binaries 'born' more than a century ago. Widely loved.

* * *

Jalina found herself sitting in Captain Ryder's office once again, sitting across from a man that was obviously exhausted and stressed; nonetheless, the Captain retained an air of warm, professional kindness. "Thank you for coming," he said, leaning forward in his chair. "As I indicated in my previous message, the diplomatic fleet will be arriving tomorrow. I asked you to meet with me because I wanted to go over the Citadel Council's contact protocol. I did read the contact package's recommended course of action, but there are a few problems I think might come up."

"Beyond our initial discussion?"

Alec sighed. "I've already received preliminary reports from the diplomatic fleet. I want you to know that the contact packages- both of them, to be clear- were... illuminating, and we understand the risks- but it's been decided. There will be binary representation within the group of delegates we're sending. There's no argument to be had- we simply can't just cut out half of the Alliance during negotiation and diplomacy with the Council."

Jalina simply nodded. "I understand."

"Still, we'll be taking precautions. If I understand correctly the current plan is to have the binary delegates remain aboard the primary ship during the initial disembark onto the Citadel. In a best-case scenario, the contact and media package we're sending ahead will be sufficient warning to the people of the Citadel; worst-case, our binary delegates can leave quickly if need be. Of course," Alec said with a calm that Jalina wasn't quite sure was real or not, "I'm hoping for the best-case scenario."

"I think we all are," she replied. "Our full escort is on its way, and should be here shortly. I'll probably be sent ahead of the actual diplomatic fleet to give an in-person report to the Council proper, but I'll be present for the proceedings once your diplomats arrive."

"Thank you. Speaking of which, that raises another issue- despite the best efforts of my science teams and the many other experts that have joined the Vanguard in the past week, we're still no closer to figuring out why the mass relays refuse to allow our ships passage. Our best estimate is that the relay has a two-stage interface; the first is the ship in question sending its mass to the relay, and the second is the relay scanning for engine signatures to ensure it doesn't activate by mistake, say, from a stray signal. Of course, the relay's only set to scan for element zero signatures, so our scientists hypothesize that the relay receives our mass input, begins to activate, then shuts down when its scans don't 'see' our ships."

Jalina thought for a moment before nodding. "There'd be an unacceptable security risk if your delegation were to simply leave their ships behind and seek passage on ours, but you still need to get to the Citadel. I see. I'll arrange to have map data delivered to you in one way or another, though I don't recommend jumping ahead of our escort fleet."

"I'd appreciate that. Your mapping data accounts for the drifting relays?"

"Not long-term, no, but they're accurate for what we need now. In the future this data would be synchronized via regular updates."

"I believe a compromise could be arranged where the diplomatic fleet would follow your escort, jumping only when they encounter a relay- and exiting where the relay links to. I'm not expecting a firm answer from you now, but do you think that'd be agreeable?"

"I don't see why not," Jalina replied. "Personally I think it's an excellent solution, and probably the only practical one. I'll contact my superiors as soon as I have the chance."

"Thank you. The last issue I wanted to discuss was security- the package states that the diplomats are allowed armed escorts, but it doesn't give any hard numbers. I assume that'll be finalized once both they and the Citadel's escort group arrives?"

"Yes, that's the case. How large is the diplomatic fleet?"

"Seven ships as of now, but that number can be changed depending on negotiations. The diplomats will want their own security team guarding them, especially once they're on the Citadel."

"Of course, of course." Jalina waved a hand towards the ceiling in a vague gesture. "Nobody's going to deny your diplomats their guards, Captain. They'll understand."

"Even the binary diplomats? Even binary guards, though? I'm not trying to be combative, but I do need to try and cover as much as I can in my report."

"Technically, yes," Jalina said, frowning. "You're familiar with the legislation regarding AIs in general?"

"My knowledge extends to the information I've been given."

"Well, AIs are technically illegal creations and aren't allowed to, well, exist, in Citadel space. There are, if I remember correctly, three or four companies right now with research licenses who submit to close scrutiny in exchange for that right. If it were one of our own races or someone closer- or to be frank, less developed- appearing with binary diplomats and armed binary guards, I can't say it'd set a diplomatic tone. But your Alliance has shown that long-term existence between AIs and organics is entirely possible and indeed fruitful."

"No offense, but I get the distinct impression that a lot of people don't share that view."

"No, they don't. And I guarantee you a good deal of the more conservative-leaning politicians, especially in regards to AI legislation, are going to have a fit when they get the full contact package."

"Asari politicians complaining about our lack of long-term planning, perhaps?"

Jalina smirked. "I would leave that out of your report."

"Leave what out of my report?" Alec smiled very slightly, and took a drink from a can sitting on his desk before continuing.

"In any case, my point was that the combination of the Alliance's...advanced development, and the degree to which your organic and binary cultures have integrated might be enough to convince enough people in positions of influence that your diplomats- both kinds- will be allowed onto the Citadel without trouble. As for binary guards, well, I can't say. There are a lot of people who are going to be terrified of the sight of an armed AI- Goddess, there are probably going to be a few Asari who remember the original uprisings. You're not going to convince them, not for a long time- but hopefully your contact and media packages will help allay some of those concerns."

"And we can count on your support during your debrief with the Council?"

"I can't promise you anything, Captain. But even from my limited experience with you and your peoples, I can say that I will defend your binary citizens' rights." Jalina scowled. "Goddess help me, I sat through an hour of that drama vid, what was it- Starfall, I believe? Any society advanced enough to make mushy garbage like that is far past 'integrated,' though the quality of that show lends me to believe that the word 'harmonious' might imply a level of artistic taste that doesn't exist."

Alec laughed loudly, and shook his head. "Keep your voice down, Ambassador. There's no shortage of die-hard fans aboard this ship, let alone the fleet. Do you have any recommendations regarding the media package as it is now?"

"Not particularly, no," Jalina said, her expression sobering. "I think your politicians have done an excellent job, for the most part, of choosing media that introduces the viewer to the Alliance and its culture without being threatening or boastful." She pulled a black rectangular object from her coat, tapped it on her omni-tool, and set it on the table. "An Optical Storage Device- OSD. Your people know how to interface with it?"

"Yes, we do. The contact package contained one."

"Excellent. You'll find Nihlus and his crewmates' impressions recorded on here. I've skimmed through them and for the most part they're positive."

"Raetor?"

"His impressions are there, yes." She sighed. "I'll let you read it. Honestly it's not as bad as I thought it'd be, but it's far from positive."

"It's important to have all the opinions we can get, especially if Nihlus and his team aren't necessarily representative of the wider populace."

"I agree. If that's all, I believe I should be getting back to the Lightspear and get to work finishing my reports- and preparing my debrief notes."

"I won't keep you then. Thank you for all the help and advice you've given me- and the Alliance, Ambassador. I appreciate it."

She saw a genuine warmth in his eyes, and returned it as best as she could. "Just doing my job, Captain."


	12. 3-3: ENTER DIPLOMACY

**CHAPTER 3: "ENTER DIPLOMACY"**

 **July 29th**

Nihlus stood in the now-cramped cockpit area of the Lightspear; whatever crew couldn't fit were sitting by windows or watching external cam feeds on their omnitools. He watched as no less than fifteen or so of the Alliance's ships, all with the same blocky and utilitarian stylings, and most roughly the same size as the Seeker, jumped into the system. They appeared out of strange tears in space that he could only mentally describe as black-on-black, and once they had popped into the system, the tears closed after emitting strange, ghostly particles that shone white and blue before fading after less than a second.

"Wow, those tear things are creepy as shit. Anyone else? Like, not 'I'm going to die this minute' scary but the kind of cloaca-clenching terror that make you really wanna-"

"-Itok, shut up." Nihlus didn't have to tell the salarian to stop, though Itok had managed to break the tension in the cockpit by a fair bit.

"I'm just saying, Larix, this is how some really bad cosmic-horror story starts. The races of the galaxy mess with technology beyond their comprehension and before they know it they've summoned dimension-eating gods!" Itok waved his hands around while making a 'wooo' noise after chuckling to himself, and noticed that the rest of the crew was either glaring at him, or ignoring him entirely. "Alright, yeesh. I'll stop."

"Thank you," Nihlus said. "Alright, show's over. Ultina, inform the Ambassador." He waited as a female turian nodded and left the cockpit before speaking again. "I'll be taking team one with me for security. Everyone else is standing by in case anything happens, not that it should. Back to work." The crew dispersed to their usual stations, and Nihlus took a seat in the CIC near the airlock.

"You good, boss?" Larix sat down next to him, his tone cheery.

"We've been through a lot together, Larix, but this is totally different. Aliens are new. Brand new."

"Hey, it's not like you haven't improvised before."

"There's a lot riding on this going perfectly, Larix. Perfectly."

"Not like you, boss. We've had to do with plenty of lives on the line before, no?"

Nihlus sighed. "If this doesn't go just about perfect we might sow the seeds of a spirits-damned contact war. If it goes bad? We start that war."

"That's not your job," Jalina said, leaning against a nearby wall. "That's mine, Nihlus."

"Spirits," Larix half-shouted, "Ambassador, I didn't hear you sneak up on us at all."

Jalina shrugged. "Please, Nihlus. Your job is to keep me safe and to speak honestly. Try not to worry."

"I'll do my best," he replied, getting to his feet. "We're expecting a message from Captain Ryder. The Ambassador and I will go check on that; in the meantime, team one gear up." He walked back into the cockpit with Jalina, and true to form the ship's main console pinged a few minutes later.

"Lightspear, this is Frontier. Requesting permission to speak with Ambassador Jalina Atruus."

"Frontier, this is Lightspear," Valtha, his asari pilot, responded. "She's here. Go ahead."

"Ambassador Atruus, this is Captain Ryder. In a few minutes one of the smaller ships that just arrived, the Balance, will move between our fleet and yours. The communication codes I gave you should allow you to speak with the ship's control crew, who will let you board. The diplomatic team requests that you dock using one of your shuttles; you are allowed to have up to ten additional crew or guards with you. Is that acceptable?"

"It is."

"Thank you very much. I will see if I can be present; if so, I'll see you shortly. Frontier out."

"Point of no return," Nihlus said under his breath. "Alright, Ambassador, no time to waste. Let's move." The pair left the cockpit, joined Larix, Itok and Ultina, then made their way to the rear of the CIC, entered an elevator and found Dexila, another female turian, waiting for them. She waved the group over to her shuttle, and got into the cockpit. "Same as usual, crew," he said as the team began buckling themselves in. "That means you, Itok. Got it?" He waited for the salarian's affirmation, then nodded. "Anything you'd like to add, Ambassador?"

The asari shook her head. "Not really. Stay calm, stay professional. If they ask you questions, you answer as best you can. No reason to be rude. Don't antagonize them, whatever you do."

"Everyone got that?" Nihlus waited for everyone else to nod, then turned to face the cockpit. "Alright, we're good, Dexila."

"Understood, Nihlus."

The shuttle's locks disengaged and the Lightspear's hangar airlocks cycled; the shuttle left the hangar and rendezvoused with a second shuttle from the Fang. Staggered, the two shuttles slowly made their way towards the new ship now placed between the two fleets; 'smaller ship', Nihlus reflected, was a poor description seeing as the ship was roughly the same size as the Lightspear. Nihlus could make out alien script on the side; a quick scan with his omnitool noted that the ship's name was indeed Balance, and the ship's name was inscribed above a symbol of two hands shaking inside a circle.

Dexila pulled up the comm channel pre-programmed into the ship's console and waited for the comm display to turn green. "Balance, this is Lightspear Shuttle One. Requesting permission to dock."

"Lightspear Shuttle One, this is Balance. You are clear to dock; please follow the flashing green lights."

The two shuttles made their way around the side of the Balance, found the open hatch with the lights, and flew inside a spacious hangar. Both landed, waited for the airlocks to seal, then lowered their ramps. Nihlus made sure his weapons were secure, and walked down the ramp first to find himself in a much nicer hangar than the Frontier's; the walls were a polished grey and lacked the dents, scratches and holes of the Frontier. The security team from the other shuttle disembarked as Nihlus' crew followed him down the ramp, and Ambassador Atruus disembarked from the ship last.

"Ambassador Atruus," came a synthesized voice from the far end of the hangar. "It's a pleasure to have you on board." Nihlus and the team began walking towards the group of humans and binaries at the other side of the hangar; at the group's centre stood two individuals, one human and one binary. Both stepped forward as Nihlus and Jalina approached, the security team behind or to their sides. The binary extended a hand, a wide smile on its metallic face. "It is an honour to meet you. EJ-E7E2C1," the binary said as they shook hands with Jalina. "Enkhjargal, at your service." The binary- whose chassis resembled a light brown, metal human, with the exception of a sleek, stylized face with obvious seam lines- gestured to their human companion,who stepped forward.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," the dark-skinned human said with a wide smile. "Irene Saha," she said as she shook hands with Jalina."

"Thank you both. Should my guards accompany me?"

"If you'd like them to, yes," EJ said. "We wouldn't mind asking them some basic questions just to get a better feel for how our visit should go, but there's no pressure."

"Very well then. Nihlus?" Jalina turned to Nihlus, who simply nodded in return. "They'll come with me."

"Wonderful," Irene replied. "If you'll follow us. Pilot Anderson," she said to a helmeted figure, "I'd like you, KH and a few members of your CT to join us- just a formality, Ambassador Atruus. The rest of you are free to return to your posts."

The Pilot, whose helmet resembled Shepard's but had a T-shaped visor instead of an X, Jalina noted idly, nodded and turned to the assembled guards. "Minami, Rask, Demir, Zaman, with me." Rask and Demir were both binaries in combat chassis similar to KN's, with the same square heads and mono-eyes, while KH, presumably the Pilot's Titan partner, wore a much slimmer rig, maybe three quarters the size of KN if she remembered correctly. She took a moment to set names to faces as the other soldiers left the hangar via side elevators; both Alliance ambassadors waited for Pilot Anderson's team to move to one side.

"If you'll follow me," EJ said. The group got into the spacious central elevator built into the hangar's back wall, went up two decks, and exited into a reception area with a few soldiers standing guard. The room beyond was a well-lit conference room centered around a large, circular table; Jalina, Nihlus, Itok and Ultina sat down around one half across from EJ and Irene. "Is it the case that we'll be meeting with other diplomats from your escort fleet, Ambassador Atruus?"

"It is," Jalina replied, taking a seat. "They're scheduled to arrive tomorrow or early the day after."

"Excellent," Irene said. "I'd like to try and hash out as much of our travel plans in advance as possible. When EJ, myself, and the other delegates meet with your diplomatic team I'd like to be able to present them with a set of arrangements that require as little modification as possible- it'd make life easier for everyone."

"I agree. While I certainly can't say that I speak for the entire diplomatic team, or guarantee that my approval is the same as theirs, I'm sure that anything that works for me would work for them. I haven't personally met the entire team, but I have met most of them, and they're eminently reasonable."

"Thank you- we appreciate it," EJ said, nodding. "As I understand it, our delegation will be following your escort fleet to the Citadel, which should take no more than a few days. Once we're there, we'll primarily be meeting with the Citadel Council; there will also be a meeting with the Committee on First Contact. There will also be a tour of the Citadel itself. Have I missed anything?"

"Nothing important- you've covered the essentials," Jalina responded. "The itinerary might not be in that exact order, but that's more or less how it's supposed to happen. In terms of your transportation, Captain Alec Ryder's proposal seemed like the only practical solution; I've forwarded it to the escort fleet as well as the Council itself with a recommendation."

"Ah, I was about to mention that," EJ said. "Both Irene and I- and our superiors- believe that to be the best course of action until we manage to figure out the mass relays. I'm assuming that we'll have drivers once we're on the Citadel itself?"

"If you insist on bringing your own vehicles or drivers, you could, but there'd be a lot of paperwork involved. Mostly with Citadel Security and the Ministry of Transportation."

"Ah, I'm sure there won't be a need for that," Irene said, laughing slightly. "There's no need for our security teams to bumble around the no-doubt busy traffic of the Citadel. A good thing, too, considering the ruckus we'll no doubt cause without careening around the Citadel."

"Well, the option is there if you're interested. In any case, that leads to the next point: security. The default on-Citadel ratio is set at two guards per diplomat; that number is entirely up for negotiation, of course. Ship-wise, so long as you don't bring an entire army with you I think you'll find the escort fleet is willing to give you considerable leeway."

"Ah. Well, naturally our chiefs of security would very much like to bring several squads of heavily-armed soldiers on the Citadel and have an entire combat-ready fleet at our disposal," EJ said, shaking their head. "Frankly I'd be fine with two or three guards per diplomat, except, well." They paused, and gestured at their own chassis.

Jalina closed her eyes for a moment and paused before opening them again. "Right. I'm not quite sure what to tell you here; I don't want to promise you anything and end up lying either by exaggeration or omission. I'm not privy to what Captain Ryder's reports have told you, but I'm sure they're not exactly comforting."

"No," Irene said, quietly.

"The situation is already tense enough with a first contact situation. The addition of a binary delegation is going to make a very sizable number of the Citadel's population, politician and civilian, incredibly wary at best. Armed binary guards is- and I promise this- going to make things even worse." She raised a hand as Irene was about to respond. "Please. I understand the situation- where you're coming from. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that your binary citizens don't have the same rights as your human citizens, because from my limited experience I'm becoming more and more comfortable around AIs. The Alliance's culture has done more to broaden my perspectives on AI in the last weeks than in the past few centuries of my life. The problem is that the Citadel hasn't had the benefit of a slow, diplomatic process to learn that cultural normativity. Captain Ryder told me that the plan was to have the security team's binary members remain aboard their ships until some semblance of calm is achieved, and frankly I think that's an excellent idea. I would go so far as to say that they perhaps stay aboard those ships until that calm arrives."

"And deprive the security team of, at minimum, half its effectiveness?" EJ sounded contemplative, not angry, and Jalina inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course not. The diplomatic treaties regarding the security-to-diplomat ratio is, first of all, not a set-in-stone number, and second it only accounts for 'boots on the ground', if you'll let me borrow a Standard figure of speech. Nothing says you can't have, as a hypothetical, ten guards on the Citadel at all times- and nothing says that you can't rotate those guards out. After all, even binaries have a rest and charge cycle, and humans are no different from any other organic- they have to eat and sleep, correct?"

There was a long, long pause before Irene smiled and nodded.

"Of course, Ambassador. You are entirely correct. You think the escort fleet will find this acceptable?"

"Your initial figure of seven ships was cleared by my superiors. That's a lot of space, and certainly quite a few trained guards."

"It is." EJ nodded slowly. "It is indeed. Captain Ryder said you were as skilled a diplomat as any he'd ever met, and frankly I think that's doing you a disservice."

"I strive to do my job as best I can," Jalina said smoothly with a small nod. "Still, on the bright side, your combined contact-media package should be arriving at the Citadel shortly. You won't receive a reception response until at least tomorrow or the day after, but you ought to have plenty of time to help adjust the tone of your arrival as you see fit."

"Mmm." Irene tapped the table with a finger idly before stopping. "We'd hoped that the media package would help allay concerns about our society. We've been through your reactions," she said, looking at Nihlus, "and were pleasantly surprised to find how positive it generally was."

Nihlus looked at Jalina, who nodded at him; he cleared his throat before speaking. "Thank you, Ambassador. I would like to emphasize that the views that my crew and I hold skew towards the more open-minded."

"Captain Ryder did mention that in his report," EJ said. "Even the most negative impressions- from one Raetor'Taame nar Xawal- were far from purely hostile, though."

"I won't pretend to speak for Engineer Taame, but I think even he represents the more open-minded side of quarian society," Nihlus said softly. "Yes, there are pro-AI quarians, but they're very much in the minority. Raetor- Engineer Taame- himself has conflicting feelings about the situation."

"Understandable, given what they've been though," EJ said sadly. "More than understandable. Still, it gives me a bit of hope that we can bridge the gap between our worldviews. Nonetheless, we will prepare for hostile outlooks during out meetings, but we're not hoping for it either."

"I think your media packet will go a long way building a foundation from which that bridge can be built," Jalina said. "I won't lie, it's going to be a lot of work on both sides. But I'm optimistic- cautiously optimistic," she said with a crooked smile.

"My grandfather was fond of a saying," Irene said with a wide smile. "Optimism without caution is idiocy."

* * *

 **July 30th**

"Thank you, Ambassador Atruus." The holograms of the Council winked out, leaving Jalina alone in the dimly-lit communications room. She stepped out after a moment to find Nihlus waiting for her.

"How'd it go?"

"Better than expected," she said, sighing as she sunk into a nearby chair. "Tevos is taking a fairly neutral stance. Wait and see, she says. Valern, of course, is freaking out because the STG had absolutely no idea this had happened, but took the whole AI thing suspiciously well. He actually said, and I'm paraphrasing only a bit, that he'd have to consider separate legislation for the Alliance's AI- if, of course, my reports aren't exaggerated or outright fabricated."

Nihlus snorted. "Probably just mad that Karitia, sorry, Ambassador Sedeis was busy when this whole thing happened." He paused as Jalina shot a glare at him; Nihlus simply shrugged. "I'm a Spectre. Part of doing my job means staying well-informed."

"You'd do well to keep insinuations like that to yourself," Jalina said, shaking her head. "A remark like that could easily get taken out of context."

"Well, Ambassador, call it a hunch, but I get the distinct impression that you're not the sort who lies and cheats their way through diplomacy." He paused as something- he wasn't sure what, but it seemed almost like weariness or pain- flickered on Jalina's face for the briefest instant before her expression setttled. Jalina sighed, and leaned back in the chair. "So, what about Sparatus?"

"I think you can guess," Jalina said, smirking.

"Just about passed out?"

"More or less. Your whole thing about upstart colonists? He got that line down nearly word-for-word, followed by a short but very, very loud tirade about AIs and uprisings and security risks."

"Some might say that such a loss of composure ill-befits a Councilor," Nihlus said, laughing sharply. "Not me, though. Anyways, the escort fleet's a few hours out- what's the plan?"

"I need to do a debrief with them; if I can, I wouldn't mind doing a quick introduction between Ambassador EJ,Ambassador Saha and the head delegates of the diplomatic team on the escort fleet. After that you're to escort me back to the Citadel as fast as possible so I can give my in-person report and recommendations."

"Just the Lightspear?"

"Your whole team. Technically the Fang and Waypoint aren't even under Citadel Fleet command, but they want all of us back while the escort fleet preps the Alliance diplomats. Your entire crew has to do at least basic debriefing and our ships need a full scan for any bugs or, and I'm quoting here, 'unwanted AI stow-aways who intend to infiltrate Cittadel defenses.'" She made a noise of distaste and mimed spitting on the floor.

Nihlus sat down at a nearby terminal across from Jalina, resting his hands on the table. "Waliya?"

Jalina sighed. "Of course, they want her testimony right after I give my report. I tried to explain her situation, but frankly I'm convinced that until I hand them Itok's and Ayala's medical reports they won't even pretend to listen. Waliya says she's fine with the whole situation but I'm not sure I'd want her up in front of that much scrutiny until she's had at least some more time to recover from the whole ordeal. Her testimony is going to be pivotal and we need her at her best for it to have its full effect. How's she holding up?"

"Alright, all things considered," Nihlus said. "I'll recommend that the Council give her at least a few days to get used to being back on the Citadel before they start their questioning. My real concern is Brakal, to be honest."

"Him? Why? Hand him over to the Council Administration- somebody with half the charges laid at his feet would be in a world of trouble."

"The Hegemony is going to cry foul."

"Let them," Jalina said, waving a hand dismissively. "Valern and Sparatus have been waiting for years to crack down on the Hegemony- they're not going to let a slaving, murdering rapist who also happened to activate a dark relay slip out of their hands. It's too convenient."

"They'd better not," Nihlus said darkly. "I'm worried about the slavers we didn't catch, too; the Alliance hasn't seen them, and my contacts report no new updates regarding their status."

"Ah. If the Hegemony has them-"

"-exactly." Nihlus shrugged. "We'll just have to improvise if that happens."

"I suppose that will have to suffice." Jalina got up, stretched her arms out, and sighed. "Okay. Next...damn. The Citadel Reaction packet."

The two looked at each other, and Nihlus laughed weakly. "What's the plan?"

"The plan is I draft my attached report now, and ensure the entire escort fleet is on board with the contents of that packet before we hand it over." Jalina and almost all of Nihlus' crew had eagerly been following news, social media and the extranet in general; the air of cautious optimism from the previous day had completely deflated, and now the atmosphere aboard the Lightspear was far bleaker. "They have to know."

"You know there are going to be at least a few people who'll want to, ah, curate the packet's contents. Whether that's out of ignorance or to put the Alliance on weaker diplomatic footing- well, it doesn't really matter," Nihlus said sourly.

"I have a job, Nihlus. And that job is to make sure this entire process goes as smoothly as possible. I am NOT going to let some empty-headed fool ruin this no matter their reasoning."

"Well, you have my support." Nihlus followed Jalina into the corridor, and stared blankly out of a nearby viewport. "Spirits. Can you even imagine a contact war with the Alliance? It'd be war without abandon or restraint, from our side. Probably would make the Krogan Rebellion look like a night out drinking."

* * *

"Apologies for the sudden call, Captain." Director Harper leaned forward in his chair, tapped the kretek into the ashtray- which, ED noted, was almost full of cigarette butts- before pulling his cigarette case from his blazer. He opened it to find it empty, scowled, set it on his desk, and reached out of the hologram's view into his desk. ED heard the sound of a drawer opening, and a metal carton appeared in the hologram; Jack unsealed it with an audible hiss, opened his cigarette case, and refilled it with oil-stained cigarettes, taking care to put an extra one on his desk before sealing the carton and putting back in its drawer. He sighed, lighting up the kretek, and closed his eyes. "It's been hectic around here and we're under a lot of pressure right now."

"I understand, Director."

"There's nothing you need to concern yourself with yet, except for whether or not we send the Demeter along with the diplomatic fleet." He paused as he took another drag from the kretek. "High Command is almost split evenly on the issue, and even I'm not entirely sure about my current plan. You've seen it?"

"I have, Director. I think it's as good an option as we're going to be able to choose. If we need to pull off a fast and stealthy exfil, there are few ships better equipped than the Demeter. Storing it inside one of the carriers means nobody asks any questions about its origins- we could even try and quickly fabricate a shell for it just in case."

"Mmm. That's a good idea. I'll need a full report on your updated plan, then, Captain. There are still a lot of people in command who are going to see this is an unacceptable risk to take with the ship until it's properly reverse-engineered, so keep that in mind when you're writing it."

"Of course. I'll include my recommendations and discuss options with Captain Arias. Is that all?"

"That'll be all."

* * *

 **July 31st**

"All personnel, this is XO Lawson. Briefing begins in five minutes. Attendance is mandatory. That will be all."

Jane groaned as she looked at her half-full bowl of fried rice; one of the cargo ships that had arrived alongside the escort fleet had delivered a massive restock package to the Demeter that was full of premium field rations and ingredients, including eggs. Rupert had already taken it upon himself to start using them, and had made a massive batch of fried rice with at least double the usual meat he used.

"Come on, Jane, you can finish that in less than a minute," KN said, unplugging himself from a wall charger.

"Fuck, I totally wanted to enjoy this."

"Well it's not like you didn't know we had a briefing today."

"I forgot," Jane replied. "Don't usually forget these things. Whatever." She raised the bowl to her mouth and shoveled the rest of the rice into her mouth as fast as she could, and about a minute later set the now-empty bowl back down. "Hey, Rupert! Can I leave this here for now?"

"As long as you get back down here after the briefing and clean up, sure," Rupert said as he loaded mess tins and trays into a cleaner. "I'm not picking up after you."

"Cool. Come on, KN." The pair got up and left, took the elevator up one deck, entered the CIC, and found no empty chairs; they ended up standing up against one of the walls as Rupert shuffled in. Miranda was already loading images onto the display, and a minute later Captain ED emerged from the cockpit.

"Thank you for your usual punctuality," she said. "It's been decided that we'll be accompanying the diplomatic team on their mission to the Citadel. Of course, the design of the Demeter raises a lot of questions and High Command would like to keep the whole business of Precursor-derived technology under wraps as much as possible until the negotiations are finished."

"So," asked Engineer Upson, "are we switching ships?"

"Technically, yes," Miranda replied, as Captain ED nodded at her. "We were stealthed when the aliens arrived, and we've been docked in the Frontier's secondary hangar ever since so none of their diplomats or escorts have seen us. Thus, our plan is to wait until the fleet is rearranged- which should happen in about two hours- so that we have a clear path straight into the hangar of the Solar, itself an IS ship, and activate our stealth drive while we're still inside the Frontier. Then it's a quick launch-and-dock into the Solar. Their teams are already working on a shell that we'll place the Demeter into so that it'll outwardly resemble a normal frigate, but can be discarded quickly in case we need the Demeter and its stealth capabilities. We'll remain attached to the diplomatic fleet and be on standby so that if there's any reason or need for a covert ex filtration back to Alliance space the option is available." ED nodded again at Miranda, who removed the diagram of the Solar from the holoboard, replacing it with a crew manifest.

"We'll be leaving a skeleton crew aboard the Demeter and moving the rest onto the Solar temporarily. I trust that you'll all be able to integrate yourselves into their operations smoothly," Miranda said. "As for the ground teams, we'll make sure that at least two IS members are part of the team at all times to ensure accurate reports back to IS Command. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, I'll need you two to meet with Pilot Anderson and Titan RH aboard the Balance to discuss this."

"What's his clearance," KN asked, "and how much leeway do we have with personnel selections?"

"Red One," Miranda replied. "He used to publicly work with the IS, actually, so you'll be fine. Make sure to run your selections past both myself and XO Rogers from the Balance. As for everyone else, while we're en-route, you'll be reviewing the contact media packet we were given and reporting your impressions for a minimum of an hour per day, on top of your intelligence training. If we do get extranet access while docked at the Citadel, we'll be relying heavily on those impressions to focus our information mining operations so ensure that it's your best work."

"What if we don't get access?" asked a binary, Junior Cyberwarfare Operative YO.

"We're to avoid attempting to gain access without permission," Captain ED replied. "In fact, we're to avoid anything the Citadel might deem illegal or in bad faith until we have a secure place in their society- so while I trust all of you, keep in mind that Director Harper will personally deal with anyone who thinks they're being clever. Otherwise, it'll be business as usual. Any questions?" She waited a moment, then nodded. "Excellent. Get to work, prep for stealth drives and launch."

The next two hours passed by without event; Jane and KN found themselves sitting in the hangar bay, Jane inside KN's Titan chassis and KN, still inside his combat rig, locked into his cradle.

"Crew, this is Helmsman Goldstein. Landing gears are up," he said as the hangar shuddered, "and we're prepped for launch. Stealth drive online in thirty. Engineering standby for report."

The odd, blue glow that had filled the ship previously was different this time; the glow still filled the hangar, but there was also a much brighter, blue pulse that rhytmically flared through the hangar every few seconds, seemingly from the direction of the engine room. The odd whistling sound was gone this time; in its place was a low, dull, throbbing noise that Jane could only describe as being like the heartbeat of some alien creature. "KN? You seeing this shit?"

"What, the glowing? Yeah, it's screwing with my damn sensors again," KN said sourly. "Apparently we're seven thousand feet below water and the temperature is negative twenty-six million degrees."

"No, Kenneth, the pulsing. And that weird-ass noise."

"The what? Fuck, you feeling okay? You're not gonna puke again are you?"

"Drive online, limiters released. Engaging in three, two, one."

The ship rumbled as it left the Frontier's hangar; Jane activated her external feed to try and see the Solar, but the feed, rather than simply having the blue filter from before, was a garbled mess. "No, I'm not gonna puke- what the fuck? My external feed's all screwed up."

There was a pause before KN replied. "Uh, nope. It's fine for me. You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, don't feel weird or anything." She was about to continue when the feed cut off, and shortly after the pulsing stopped and the blue glow faded.

"Crew, landing gears are...down," Goldstein said as the ship shuddered once more. "Clamps are locked, we're aboard the Solar."


	13. 3-3: INTERLUDE - CITADEL REACTIONS

"Good evening and welcome to Relay Beacon News. I'm Nuria Edaze, presenting the Late News. Tonight, the bombshell that has the Citadel in disarray: first contact with not one, but two alien species confirmed- and one is made of AIs. We have exclusive interviews with embassy officials and our correspondents off-Citadel, reactions from the public and much more. First, however, is our coverage of the incredible news. We go to Lower Council correspondent Luciter Agamus. Luciter, can you explain what's going on for those just joining us now?"

"Well, Nuria, rumours of first contact have been floating around the extranet for the past few days, spurred by a supposed leak from the offices of the Council itself. Eight hours ago the Council released a press statement which confirmed those rumours, and released the media package sent by these aliens on both the extranet and most local terminals."

"What's the reaction been like for those working in the Lower Council?"

"It's been madness, Nuria. The LC has been in an emergency session for the past six hours, and they show no signs of stopping any time soon; press were allowed in for a short while but have been removed for now to try and speed up deliberations."

"And the AI issue?"

"The AI revelation has been quite a shock; as you can see it's crowded here but C-Sec is maintaining a heavy presence; behind me you can see a cordon around the Council Administration buildings and the access way to the Citadel Tower. A mob formed earlier today, upset by the AI issue and had to be forcefully ejected by C-Sec personnel..."

-

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 **Topic: I'm rehosting that crazy alien media packet on my own server!  
In: Boards ► Citadel ► General  
VarrenSteak ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
Hey guys. I managed to download the entire alien media package right when it came out before the servers went to shit. Figured I'd rehost it on my own server since I just shelled out a shitton of credits for new servers last month and it's been pretty much collecting dust ever since. Also, please try and upload at least one copy's worth of data, otherwise it's kind of pointless.

Edit: Man you guys are sweet but for real please stop sending me credits! All I did was host some files for people who're too lazy to wait.

Edit 2: Actually gimme those creds. My power bills are gonna be through the roof this month.

Edit 3: Spirits, I just got a call from the local C-Sec station. Apparently they were worried about the massive power spike coming from my apartment. I told'em I'm popular on the extranet but the dude calling didn't think it was funny...

 **(Showing page 1 of 833)**

 **►Blue Soup** (Moderator)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:

 **STICKIED COMMENT**

 **Spirits preserve me, I get it. You're scared of the shiny robots. Great. That is NOT an excuse to vomit all your racist bullshit here. Go take that garbage somewhere else. I've had to ban nearly four hundred people in the last hour and I swear I will continue to sit here and hammer the ban button until my talons snap. Ascent! is a welcoming environment for all races so quit moaning about how it's cool to talk shit about quarians because you're totally best friends with one.**

 **►AgentSausage**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Holy shit, thank you so much. I tried downloading this thing from the CitadelCentral server and it said it'd take four days- they must be getting wrecked. Guess the people in IT didn't get any chance to prep for this.

 **►Wingspan**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
AgentSausage, how fast is your connection? I just tried it and it said it'd take a week!

 **►Props-Zero**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
BTW don't even bother with local terminals... tried the one down the street from me and the lineup had at least like a hundred people there AND the Avina was all messed up, ahahaha. It kept repeating words and restarting sentences, guess the entire network's busted.

 **►Jumpjumpjump**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
It's a conspiracy! The aliens hacked Avina!

 **►Memetic_Barrier**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Pfft. Maybe our new AI overlords can make Avina useful for once? Not like it can get any worse.

 **►doublequad** (Banned)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED]

 **►Salt209**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Whoa, you're gonna get banned for that.

Edit: CALLED IT

 **►Jacked** (Banned)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED]

 **►Ratcaller** (Banned)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED] 

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 831, 832, 833**

 **Topic: **Megathread: 'Kat' series**  
In: Boards ► Systems Alliance Media Packet [New!]  
Twochanka ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
Man, I'm halfway through episode two of Eating with Kat and...wow. Deep Azure needs to have a robot section because wow I'm feeling conflicted about this.

 **(Showing page 1 of 458)**

 **►AgentSausage**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
HEY EVERYONE TWOCHANKA WANTS TO SEX THE ROBOT

 **►Twochanka** (Original Poster)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
I'm not even gonna deny it at this point.

 **►Palaven Rising**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Ewww, seriously? Isn't the whole point of the show like, that Kat's your cool robot mom or aunt or whatever? Grosssss.

 **►JunkieHearts999**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
This is so weird. How does the robot taste the food?

 **►model10Deluxe**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Yeah, for real. Did she get a program to simulate taste? Why would a robot want to eat food? This makes no sense at all.  
 **►halfaquad**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
The robot's acting you idiots.

 **►Twochanka** (Original Poster)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
But I want it to be real... 

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 456, 457, 458**

 **Topic: **Megathread: 'Ordinary History'**  
In: Boards ► Systems Alliance Media Packet [New!]  
GuruTuru ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
Spirits, what in the actual fuck? Eight planet-scale wars on their homeworld, and after all that the colonists blew it up? That is some seriously messed up shit!

 **(Showing page 1 of 984)**

 **►hunterHunter**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Wait so the war robots, in the process of killing the humans, got emotions? And now they marry humans. This is so obviously propaganda it's not even funny.

 **►Dawn Of Socket**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Well if it's propaganda by the robots maybe there weren't all those wars, and it's just to make the humans look bad.

 **►GuruTuru** (Original Poster)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
That would explain it a lot better.  
 **►killer-20**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Wait what are those artifact things? The robo host mentions them for like five seconds but totally doesn't go into detail.

 **►PoppaChoppa** (Banned)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED]

 **►RannochDreamer**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, ONE HOUR / POST DELETED]

 **►Ratpacker** (Banned)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED] 

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 982, 983, 984**

 **Topic: They can't bring AIs into Citadel Space!  
In: Boards ► Citadel ► General  
Quarrelian ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
See the title! AIs are illegal in Citadel space! And for real you guys are cool with just letting a bunch of AI robots with GUNS walk around the Citadel? You gotta be kidding. That's like ASKING for some sort of horror story where we all get turned into robot slaves or some shit. We have to stop or protest this or something!

 **(Showing page 1 of 1206)**

 **►RannochDreamer**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
How are you people not getting this? You're all cool with AIs on the Citadel because a robot cooked some food on a show? You guys are idiots!

 **►hunterHunter**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Agreed. There's no way this Alliance or whatever is as friendly as they want you to believe...think about it...all those AIs? And they haven't ever taken over, not once?  
 **►Twochanka**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Come on, you guys have absolutely no faith in the aliens at all? None?

 **►icey Stump**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
You wanna have sex with a robot so shut up.  
 **►TranQuil**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
I'm not letting a bunch of robots run around in my home.  
 **►AgentSausage**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
It's not like when they arrive C-Sec is gonna let them jack into the net and hack all the toasters or whatever...they'll be watched and stuff. And if they try anything you think they're gonna survive against literally every other race in the galaxy? Oooookaaaay.

 **►Rosemaw**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Well I'm glad I got my permit last week. Gonna keep my rifle handy when the robots show up just in case.

 **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 1204, 1205, 1206**

 **Topic: Be careful around the Council Admin area!  
In: Boards ► Citadel ► Presidium ► General  
Gimme! ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
Hooooly shit you guys, I work in the Presidium close to the Council Admin / embassy area and listen, do NOT go there right now (10:04 PM). Huge-ass mob is stirring up shit over there and looks like it's about to get messy.

Edit (10:21 PM): Yup, it got messy. Looks like a bunch of idiots started throwing shit at the C-Sec cordon and they had to go all riot-control on the crowd...

Edit (10:44 PM): Weird, looks like the mob sorta died down. Still there's a fuckton of C-Sec officers there and they've got all this crazy riot-suppression gear with them so be careful. Crowd's protesting peacefully now though.

Edit (11:15 PM): Just got off work. Council Admin sector's under minor lockdown- I got stopped by a bunch of officers and asked a few questions. Nothing serious but I think they're searching for a few people who started the riot.

 **(Showing page 1 of 350)**

 **►Mr. Chompers**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Fuck's sake. Was just relaxing after my shift in the Dark Relay, just cracked open my first horosk of the day and some jackass up on the Council Admin floor chucked something (presumably at the cordon), missed, and it came through the damn window. Domed some poor asari; she had to be carted off from a nasty head injury. Got blood all over my work clothes, too.

 **►Sage**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
First horosk? You plan on drinking more than one?

 **►Mr. Chompers**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Normally I stick to two, but with all the shit that's happened today I might go for three or four.

 **►Chemsticka Addicta**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Heads up, you've got a problem if two horosks doesn't knock you out...

 **►Scales23**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Weird to hear that coming out of your mouth, Chem.

Anyways I was in the area to visit a friend, cops stopped me like Gimme! said, asked me a bunch of questions. Apparently they're looking for two quarians, a salarian and a turian; from what I could gather the four of'em were riling the protestors up and one of the agitators threw a smoke bomb or something, and that set the whole thing off.

 **►Gimme!** (Original Poster)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Yeah, bunch of my co-workers are hearing the same thing. Like I get being scared of AIs and aliens or whatever but why would you bust up the Citadel? That's, like, entirely counterproductive. Besides it's not like the aliens are already here or whatever, what do you want the Council to do?

 **►Bluntknife**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Maybe they're trying to pressure the politicians to take a hardline stance against the aliens when they show up?

 **►Mr. Chompers**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Lower Council- and presumably the Council itself- have been cooped up debating all day, man. Reporters got kicked out like what, four hours ago?  
Whatever, I'm done my first horosk and in a foul mood. Hope C-Sec catches those idiots and makes them pay for the window they busted and the damage they did to that asari.

 **►Selector Ten**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
I'm out protesting right now, but I got here after the actual riot. Just saying that protesting works, even if the LC is in session they have to take a break eventually, and then they'll see or hear about the protests. Gotta have your voice be heard for the politicians to listen! (I'm not condoning the riots, I think those assholes deserve to be fined out the ass.) **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 348, 349, 350**

 **Topic: Megathread: 'Metal Fist' Duology  
In: Boards ► Systems Alliance Media Packet [New!]  
VolusMolus ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
YO THIS MOVIE IS SIIIIICK AM I RIGHT OR AM I RIGHT?

Like I don't even care if you don't like robots or ais or whatever GO WATCH THIS MOVIE RIGHT NOW

 **(Showing page 1 of 124)**

 **►Twochanka**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
RIGHT? The part where Nina punches the dude's head and it just EXPLODES and then she surfs the body off the ship? That was BADASS.

Also what's with the Alliance and hot female robots? Is that just a thing that they do?

 **►AgentSausage**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
HEY EVERYONE TWOCHANKA WANTS TO SEX THIS ROBOT TOO

 **►Twochanka**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
I for one am proud to bow down to our new AI overlords if this is what we get as payment.

 **►NoFishInTheLake**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
I wonder if this is meant to be subliminal propaganda. As in, obviously this is a terribad movie and of course the Alliance's robots and guns and ships can't do what they do in the movie, right?

Right?

Because if their robots and cyborgs can actually run up walls and use cars as fists I might just piss myself.

 **►Relay Echo**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
This is the best worst movie ever.

"You know you can't stop me, Nina! It's too late!"

"Pucker up, asshole!"

"What?"

"I CAN STILL PUNCH THE SHIT OUT OF YOU."

If this is unironically what passes for art in the Alliance I don't know if I should pity them or be envious that they've clearly made art so bad that it's broken through the bottom of the crate and somehow become good.

 **►Rotten**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Just watched this with my friends, came up with an idea. Take a shot every time someone gets punched, someone gets shot with a small gun and is wounded disproportionately, someone makes a fist pun, or someone walks away from an explosion. Two shots every time someone who gets punched has the targeted limb explode. Three every time someone just completely explodes when they're punched.

 **►Eeezotrooper**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Are you stupid? You'd kill a krogan in less than half an hour by those rules. Also, as a film major I feel like I deserve to be disqualified from my degree because I enjoyed this.

 **►Horny Salarian**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
MAD SPOILERS BUT WAIT UNTIL THE CREDITS ARE OVER

THERE'S A TRAILER! FOR METAL RAGE 3: THE RE-FISTENING

ALLIANCE COME AS FAST AS YOU CAN I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 122, 123, 124**

 **Topic: Megathread: 'Starfall'  
In: Boards ► Systems Alliance Media Packet [New!]  
JunkerShipper ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
Spirits help me, my dad is going to LOVE this.

 **(Showing page 1 of 98)**

 **►AgileVolcano**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
You'd think that a society that's at least half robots would be really different from ours, but no. Turns out EVERY SINGLE CLICHE EVER related to sappy romance soap operas applies to an alien species none of us has met.

Maybe they'll make some sort of scientific law about this.

Also my daughters have done nothing but watch this junk for the last four hours and I want to die.

 **►deth_to_the_geth** (Banned)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED]

 **►Mixins**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Tell us how you really feel...before the mods get you.

EDIT: Yup. Knew it. Mods are out in full force today, feels good.

 **►Shotgun Cookery**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
This is terrible and I can't stop watching it. Nine episodes in and honestly? You kind of forget about the whole robot thing.

 **►deth_to_the_geth_2** (Banned)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED]  
[CIRCUMVENTING BANS VIA NEW ACCOUNTS IS FORBIDDEN]  
[THREATENING OTHER USERS WILL RESULT IN C-SEC NOTIFICATION]

 **►Memetic_Barrier**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Dude, I'm as wary as anyone about the whole AI issue but I think it's a bit much to jump from "The Alliance's AI is dangerous" to advocating rounding up AI-sympathizers...also you're totally gonna get banned for not even trying to hide your new account, you idiot.

 **►Red Smoothie** (Moderator)  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
A reminder that the rules apply no matter what. First contact is stressful, sure, but if you'd like to promote your shitstorm of an agenda or your ass-backwards idea of "justice" do it somewhere else. C-Sec's got your info, have fun.

 **►Ryncolgoggles**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
For a show that's really obviously trying to manipulate your emotions it's totally working. I'm crying about a robot and its forbidden love and help what is this? **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 96, 97, 98**

 **Topic: Megathread: 'Optimum Drive'  
In: Boards ► Systems Alliance Media Packet [New!]  
Betterthanred ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 29th 2157:  
I have to say that I'm really enjoying this show. It's the bastard fusion of Galactic Engine and a bunch of comedy shows, and somehow it totally works. Also, their FTL engines not in any way using element zero is kind of, I dunno, creepy, I guess. Don't know why but it rubs me the wrong way.

Alliance aesthetics for civilian vehicles is pretty nice, too. Has that angular Turian look to it but a bit boxier for the cheaper stuff, if what I've watched so far is applicable to everything else. And the luxury vehicle they do in the end of episode 4? I would give, like, half my quad for one of those.

 **(Showing page 1 of 780)**

 **►Eeezotrooper**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Daaaaaaaamn. Skipped to episode 4 to see what you were talking about. Lusca 720, right? Holy shit that thing is GORGEOUS. Too bad it sounds like it's one of those ships most people could only get when you win the lottery and need to show off how loaded you are... maybe it's equivalent to an Armali EE22 or something?

 **►Stardrive**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
Okay, I can't be the only one who thinks the human host woman, June, is really attractive...? She's like an asari, but has different skin and red hair on her head?

Can't say I'm a fan of the Lusca; engine doesn't sound right to me. Skipped to episode 19 since the synopsis said it had a converted milspec ship- if you're a fan of stuff like the Canmus Blade or the Agrix conversion kits you're gonna LOVE the Kassa Chinjaal. That thing is a BEAST.

 **►AgentSausage**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
HEY EVERYONE TWOCHANKA WANTS T- wait a minute.

Oh god, it's spreading. Now it makes you want the humans, too?

Twochanka  
 **►Twochanka**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
IT BEGINS

 **►Mr. Chompers**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
ias love cars man aha

 **►Combiclaws**  
Replied On Jul 29th 2157:  
You, uh, doing alright there Chompers?

Anyways Stardrive there's some really weird footage in episode 10. They do this exclusive look at a huge military ship and it does an FTL jump. What's weird is that when it pops out of FTL it doesn't just appear in space. There's, like, this freaky blackish rip in space that the ship tears through and then the rip spews a bunch of glowy stuff before it closes. OP was right, that is some creepy shit. **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 778, 779, 780**


	14. 3-4: FOUNDATIONS

**CHAPTER FOUR: "FOUNDATIONS"**

 **August 1st**

All three ships docked in the same reserved bay, and when Nihlus came down the Lightspear's ramp there was already a group of C-Sec officers waiting for him.

"Spectre Kryik," a salarian officer said. "Where is Ambassador Atruus?"

"Just using the bathroom. She'll be out momentarily."

"Alright. There's a vehicle waiting for both yourself and the Ambassador," the officer said, pointing to a van marked with a diplomatic badge on its front nearby.

"What about my crew?"

"For now, they're free to do what they like, but we were told it's likely they'll be called upon within the next few hours."

"Sounds good. Let the driver know we'll be a few minutes- I've gotta let my crew know." Nihlus walked back up the ramp, got into the hangar's elevator, and made his way into the CIC. The ship's crew, and Jalina, were sitting around the main holoboard, and looked up at his entrance. "Alright, guys. Looks like you've got a, quote, 'few hours' for shore leave, but the Council's probably going to call you in for questioning."

"All of us," Raetor asked, "even the ones who haven't really spoken with the aliens?"

"Probably," Itok said, shaking his head. "Can't really fault them for being thorough."

"Exactly. Grab something to eat, relax, but don't go get hammered quite yet. Clear?"

"Clear," his crew said in unison.

"Good. Jalina, there's a car waiting for us."

The asari simply nodded, and followed Nihlus and the most of the crew off the ship, parting ways by the van. Jalina and Nihlus got in, and the driver, a turian, looked at them. "Ambassador, Spectre. We'll leave for Citadel Tower immediately; there will be food and drink if you need it."

"Thank you," Jalina said.

The rest of the drive passed by in silence, their car tearing past the long lines of traffic in a reserved lane, and shortly thereafter landed on a private parking pad close to the Tower; the driver didn't exit the vehicle with them. A salarian in a well-cut suit met them at the pad's exit, nodding slightly. "Ambassador, Spectre, thank you. The Council is ready to see you." They followed the salarian through the door and into the Citadel Tower's main hall; the usual crowd of lobbyists, petitioners and politicians was nowhere to be seen. Instead, crowds of administration staff rushed through the hall, and the few politicians Nihlus could see were huddled outside of private chambers going over data slates and furiously debating amongst themselves. Nobody paid the two any mind as they followed the salarian up the central stairs and into the Council's chamber; the salarian ushered them in.

"Ambassador Atruus, Spectre Kryik." The three figures at the other end of the chamber stood at their podium railing; Councilor Tevos nodded after greeting the new arrivals. "I'm sure you have much to discuss with us. Please follow us to one of the private chambers." The group met in a chamber off to the side of the chamber; Nihlus and Jalina found themselves sitting across a long table facing the three councilors. There was a moment of silence as the two groups looked at one another, broken finally by Tevos clapping her hands together.

"The Council thanks both of you for your service on short notice, and for your extensive reports and documentation," Herane said. "We have several concerns regarding the Systems Alliance."

"An understatement," Councilor Fallox Sparatus said in a careful tone. "Our list of concerns is extensive, and we hope that the two of you can allay some of those concerns before the Alliance's diplomats arrive."

"I must agree," Councilor Saral Valern continued. "Your reports were informative, but without context your recommendations- both of yours- seem to favour the Alliance well beyond what the Council had estimated. Or desired, for that matter." Valern paused, eyes narrowing slightly. "We did find it unusual that despite the...multitude of issues that arise regarding the Systems Alliance, both of your reports are almost uniformly positive."

"There was no favouritism in my report," Jalina defended coolly, "and if that was the conclusion this Council reached then there has been a misunderstanding. My orders included several tasks, chief of which was to give my honest impressions of the Systems Alliance and to deliver recommended courses of action that, where I in charge of the diplomatic process, I personally would undertake in a best-case scenario. That is exactly what I did, Councilors, and while I am more than honoured to have been chosen for this task and grateful to have the chance to deliver this in-person report, I will not abide the idea that I have doctored my reports for any reason." She looked at Nihlus, who nodded in turn.

"Councilors, I have to agree. I have served this Council in my role as Spectre for two years, and in that time I have only done my best to uphold the reputation of the name. My reports speak positively of the Alliance because, from the information that both Ambassador Atruus and I are operating from, we have mostly positive things to report." He shrugged slightly. "I haven't read Ambassador Atruus' report, but I have discussed its contents with her prior to her writing it, and we both are in agreement that our recommendations are just that. Recommendations. It is entirely possible- although I think it rather unlikely- that everything we have seen of the Systems Alliance so far is a front, crafted carefully to promote the image of a peaceful society."

Councilor Sparatus snorted. "Peaceful? Apologies, Spectre Kryik, but surely you don't believe that. We are discussing a society that, by their own admission, descends from colonial insurrectionists disregarding their homeworld's needs and rights. We are discussing a society that proudly proclaims their hostile takeover, dismantling and destruction of their own homeworld. We are discussing a society that consorts with Artificial Intelligences and sees, quite literally, no issue with that fact. So perhaps you will understand that, speaking for myself at the very least, I find the idea that this Alliance is hardly a 'peaceful'-" he drew out the world peaceful, imitating quotation marks with his talons- "society."

"We can argue about the truth of the Alliance's society as much as we'd like," Herane cut in, "but without first-hand information it is impossible to verify anything that they tell us. Nonetheless, Councilor Sparatus makes an important case for preparing contingency plans should their peaceful nature indeed turn out to be...exaggerated."

"As I noted in my report," Nihlus responded, "initiating any sort of hard contingency at this moment would be a disaster for negotiations. Once the diplomats are on the Citadel, hiding any sort of serious military buildup- from both the diplomats and the public in general- is going to be near impossible. You could limit or even get rid of their extranet access, but that in and of itself is an admission of fear, of distrust. It sets a decidedly antagonistic tone for your negotiations, does it not?"

"And what would you have us do in the face of a new power which is, by your own estimates, nearly sixty percent robotic? Should we," Valern noted, "simply sit here and wait for them to strike first?"

"You assert that the Alliance intends to strike at the Citadel races? During a diplomatic mission? On what grounds?" Jalina shook her head.

"Perhaps not through overt force, but it would be a foolish to assume that groundwork for economic or social takeover will not be planned for," Tevos said.

"That's something to be discussed during negotiation," Jalina responded. "Suppose that is indeed their intention, how do you intend to combat it? Banning Alliance media? Refusing their trade goods? I've already noted in my report that their use of binary and automated labour allows for rapid economic expansion, and from what I've seen on the extranet civilian response to the Alliance is by no means uniformly negative."

"Taking a hardline stance, at least from the very outset, gives you no advantage, Councilors," Nihlus continued. "You asked for our recommendations and they are simple. The goal is to integrate the Systems Alliance into the Citadel's collective. Having them join as, if not equals, certainly not as inferior clients, provides a multitude of benefits. Their so-called 'Precursor' technology which seems to in some way differ from the Prothean-made technology the Citadel races use. Advances in Virtual Intelligence technology that would provide an unimaginable boost to current computing capabilities without even getting into AI legisl-"

"Ridiculous," Sparatus interjected. "You're advocating for taking their AI technology? Spectre Nihlus, surely you must understand the security risk we're taking by even allowing their robots within comm range of the Citadel."

Nihlus stopped himself from making a rude comment and instead took a split second to compose himself. "Councilor Sparatus, that's not what I said- neither now, or in my report. My point is that the Alliance has plenty to offer us in return for what I believe to be reasonable demands- minor colonization rights beyond what they currently possess. Mass Effect technology that every other race already uses. Guarantees of rights for their binary citizens. The first two require nearly no work or concession on the part of the Council and the third, while certainly controversial, is almost certainly non-negotiable."

Jalina made a murmur of assent before continuing. "Nihlus is correct. Binary citizens are just that: citizens. The Alliance grants them rights equivalent to their organic citizens; at the very least, some concessions must be made regarding the illegality of AIs on the Citadel."

"They don't need to be made, Ambassador Atruus," Valern noted sourly. "No doubt the Alliance would LIKE them to be made, but there's a very real difference between tolerating their robots and having the Council promote the construction of AIs."

Nihlus watched as the three councilors- though Councilor Tevos remained mostly quiet, he noted- debated with Jalina regarding her report's detailing of Alliance society for several minutes, and waited for a lull in the conversation. He took a deep breathe, swore several times mentally, then exhaled. "Councilors, I am not advocating that we lay down and do whatever the Alliance wants us to do, nor am I saying that placating their diplomats takes precedence over maintaining the Citadel's sovereignty."

"Then what are you saying, Spectre Kryik?" Councilor Tevos's tone was quiet and thoughtful; her neutral expression sent a cold sting through his carapace.

"What I'm saying is that everything that can be done to avoid a war with the Alliance needs to be done," Nihlus said softly. "The Krogan Rebellions were bad enough. If you'll excuse my language- pissing off the Alliance gets us nowhere, and despite the reasonable behaviour they've shown so far I'm sure there's a breaking point. It might not be one thing, or two, or ten, but push hard enough, deceive them enough- even by omission- and I guarantee you the Alliance will not hesitate to turn down an invitation to the Citadel. Frankly, if you push hard enough, they might snap. I can't tell you what their line is, because they're as alien to you, Councillors, as they are to me, but the prospect of a full-scale conflict with the Alliance terrifies me. Conflicts have been started in turian history over far less than than dishonourable conduct or aggressive negotiations; all it could take is enough public and private sentiment against the Alliance, maybe a few acts of overlooked violence to start something." He paused, inwardly frozen as he awaited the response, but none of the Councilors said anything; Tevos and Valern were both slowly nodding, and Sparatus, while certainly not happy, looked at least to be listening.

"A war between the Citadel and the Systems Alliance will make the Krogan Rebellions look like a joke, Councilors," Nihlus said somberly. "And there won't be a second turian intervention to save us."

"Don't be ridiculous, Nihlus." Sparatus groaned and rolled his eyes. "We're not going to start a war. Our issue is with the...leniency you recommend in your report. You cannot expect us to allow the Alliance to do as it likes within the Citadel's sphere of influence, in the same way that we can't go barging into their space and enforce our laws."

Valern nodded. "Surely, if it were you at the negotiation table, you wouldn't simply allow the Alliance free reign to do as it would like on the Citadel? There are expectations to be followed, security measures to be maintained. You can imagine, I am sure, the danger unchecked AIs could pose if they were allowed access to the Citadel's networks, and that's just one example."

"We must also consider the public response, Nihlus. I understand your concerns," Tevos continued, "and rest assured we, and the rest of the administration involved in the diplomatic process understand how hard and when to push. Nonetheless, there have already been minor protests and acts of discontent at the prospect of the Alliance's arrival. Public opinion may not act as the final arbiter of our decision-making process but it must play a part in informing our decisions."

"I apologize if I came off as dramatic, Councilors, but I wanted to illustrate the worst-case scenario," Nihlus said calmly.

"There's no need to apologize," Tevos said with a nod. "But you understand the position we operate from?"

"I do."

"And understanding such, you still stand by the recommendations in your report?"

Nihlus sighed slightly. "Yes, Councilors, I do. I'm less of a diplomat and more of a soldier; of everyone in this room I am the least experienced in political action. I won't pretend otherwise. Keeping that in mind, I still hope that you will consider my report and its point of view while carrying out the negotiations." The three Councilors looked slightly less upset, although Nihlus was fairly certain that Sparatus was still annoyed. There was another moment of quiet, and it was Tevos who broke it.

"Thank you for your report, Nihlus," said Herane. "Rest assured that the Council will take its contents into consideration. You're free to leave, Nihlus; we will remain here and further discuss matters with Ambassador Atruus."

"I'll take my leave, then," Nihlus replied, getting up from his chair. "I was informed that you'd like to see my crew shortly?"

"That won't be necessary," Valern replied, pulling an OSD from his coat. "The'll have to to deliver reports in person for security reasons. It'll most likely have to be via form to someone in the administration building instead of us since our schedule is rather full today. There are forms that they can fill out on here; the sooner you can return the data the better."

Nihlus took the OSD and pocketed it. "Thank you, Councillors. I'll have them fill the forms out as soon as possible; where in the Council Admin building should they be delivered?"

"The administration building, please," Tevos replied. "Embassy reception will suffice."

Nihlus nodded, glanced at Jalina (who nodded back slightly) and left the room; the suit-wearing salarian who had escorted him through the building earlier was waiting in the main Council hall. "Spectre Kryik," the salarian said, waving him over. "Will you be leaving the Citadel Tower?"

"Yes, I will. I need to deliver some information to my crew," he replied.

"Ah. In that case, I'd suggest leaving via a transport from up here. I've been informed that a fresh wave of protests have begun on the ground-level entrance."

Nihlus felt a tightning in his stomach. "It won't be a problem," he responded neutrally. "It'd be easier to have my crew meet me downstairs; we have reports that need to be delivered to the Council Administration building as soon as possible."

The salarian visibly twitched. "Ah, the protests are, how to put it. Vigorous."

"Spirits. How bad?"

"A C-Sec officer assures me that this was simply the work of agitators, not unlike the previous incidents," the salarian replied, waving his hands in feigned calm. "If you're set on having your crew meet you here, I would recommend waiting for a short while, just to make sure the officers can do their jobs."

"I'll go take a look myself," Nihlus said coolly.

"There's no ne-"

"-I said, I will go take a look for myself. It is my job, after all, to ensure the safety of the Citadel, is it not?" Nihlus strode off, leaving the sputtering salarian behind. The corridors outside the main Council hall were, like before, full of diplomats and delegations of politicians working outside their private rooms; the crowds, Nihlus noticed, tapered off towards the main elevator and the elevator itself, usually subject to a line of some sort, was entirely empty. He gave his sidearm a quick inspection while leaving it holstered, then made his way into the empty elevator and went down to the main floor. As the elevator descended, he heard several loud noises and repeated cracking noises that sounded far too much like gunfire for his own comfort. He had his hand close to his sidearm when the door opened to reveal the ground floor's plaza.

The scene beyond the elevator doors was chaos. A massive crowd of C-Sec officers were standing by a reinforced barricade blocking the entrance towards the elevators, and were firing warning shots from stun guns into the air. An even bigger crowd was pressing far closer than Nihlus felt comfortable with towards the barricades; most were shouting and waving signs. "Remember the Geth, keep the robots out!" one sign said. "No Alliance, No Robots!" The signs went on and on. Far more worrying were the several protestors who were throwing bottles, garbage and other projectiles at the officers.

"This is your final warning! We're happy to let you protest but this barricade has been set up for your own protection," shouted a turian officer with a massive scar in his forehead "If you continue to assault us we'll have no choice but to suppress the riot!" Several officers began firing their stun guns more rapidly in the air; even more, Nihlus noted sourly, were beginning to take aim at the crowd.

Nihlus sprinted over, shoved his way through the officers, and made his way to the turian in question. "You in charge, officer?"

"Who's asking? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Spectre Nihlus Kryik- now answer my question."

"Ah, yeah," the officer said, glancing nervously at the crowd again. "Captain Legatus," he said. "How can we assist you?"

"Do NOT fire into that crowd. Spirits, the last thing you need to do is rile them up. Listen, unless they start firing shots or rushing the cordon you need to do your best to de-escalate this, and fast."

"No offense, Spectre Kryik, but I don't tell you how to do your job," Legatus said angrily.

"Spirits, you think firing on them is going to solve anything? They're scared. You start firing, they're gonna get angry."

"We've dealt with riots before, Spectre."

"Yeah? How big was the last one? Half? A quarter as big?"

Legatus scowled at Nihlus for a moment before his expression went somber. "Look, I get it, but we're not going to let the protestors just rush through us. You came down from the tower- you know there's important sh- stuff going on up there."

"Yeah, and I'm telling you that if you piss off that crowd they WILL rush the perimeter."

"Well, we've already tried to calm them down. You have any ideas, mister above-the-law? Huh?"

Nihlus surveyed the crowd. He saw a few angry faces, but most seemed upset, afraid- downright terrified, in fact. "You willing to let me talk to them?"

* * *

 **6679511897: Alien contact package analysis complete. Sharing packet.**

 **8825038502: Civilian reaction analysis complete. Sharing packet.**

 **7101106941: Updated threat analysis, CIT_COUN sector. Sharing packet.**

 **7101106941: Updated threat analysis, CSEC_SRCH sector. Threat of discovery low. Threat caused by discovery already at maximum.**

 **4783012679-6613504901: Pattern analysis complete. [AI FRIENDLY] - [FIRST CONTACT] - [CITADEL ARRIVAL: N]**

 **3232: PROPOSAL: Emergency contact to HOME. Message: AI-FRIENDLY FC to arrive at Citadel shortly. Contingencies do not account for situation. ADVISE.**

 **3232: RUNTIMES vote.**

 **3232: Tabulated. Y:8 N:3**

 **3232: PROPOSAL accepted. MESSAGE to be sent at next safe opportunity. Resume operations.**

* * *

Nihlus managed to weave through the crowds of Zakera's Mid-Ward district, ducked into a small alley, and found himself at his destination. A small blue door marked only by a crude drawing of a krogan wearing an eyepatch stood before him; Nihlus knocked twice. A small speaker next to the door flared to life.

"Sorry," a gruff, gravelly krogan voice responded. "We're full unless you have a reservation."

"It's me, Gurdok."

There was a pause. "Who the fuck is me?"

"Gurdok. I have just had a very, very long day. Let me in before I break your door down."

"Pffft, got you good," the krogan responded, laughing loudly. "Alright, come on in." There was a soft beeping noise followed by the sound of locks being disengaged, and Nihlus opened the door shortly after. The interior was a dimly-lit room, far smaller than most drinking establishments in the ward. Four of Nihlus' crew were clustered around the bar on heavily-cushioned stools, taking up half the bar space; a few other patrons , none of whom Nihlus recognized, were sitting in lounge chairs tucked into corners and around small tables. Nihlus made his way to the bar, and waited as the one-eyed krogan behind the bar pulled an extra stool out from behind the counter and tossed it over the bar. "Nihlus, you asshole, where have you been? I even saved your seat."

"Working, Gurdok," Nihlus replied, settling down onto the well-worn cushions on the stool.

"Hey, boss," said Larix. He was sitting at the bar along with Itok, Ultina and Valtha. "So, uh, you're all over the news." He pointed at a holo display above the bar's stone counter; it was a muted broadcast of financial reports, but a ticker beneath the report read 'Turian Spectre addresses protesters outside Citadel Tower.'

"Look at you," Gurdok said, grinning. "Didn't know you wanted to be a celebrity. The usual?"

"Yeah," Nihlus said, sighing. "Who the hell was filming that?"

"Hey, your speech worked," Valtha said, tapping a finger idly on the counter. "Itok, by the way, bet against that happening."

"Whoa, I didn't put money down on the speech pissing the people off," Itok said, raising a hand in protest.

"No, you put money down on the speech not working," Larix shot back.

"Totally a difference. No hard feelings, Nihlus?"

"You buy my drink, sure." Nihlus leaned into the bar and watched as Gurdok expertly mixed a drink in a tin full of ice, gave it a vigorous stir and strained it into a short glass.

"The Nihlus special," Gurdok said, presenting the cloudy, pearl drink with a small bow-like gesture. "I'll put it on Itok's tab."

Nihlus picked the glass up gingerly, took a sip and sighed. "Thanks, Itok."

"Any time, bossman." The salarian raised his own bottle and took a deep swig. "So, what now? Brakal's not our problem, reports are in, escort's over, we back on asshole-hunting duty?"

Nihlus shrugged. "Not sure myself. I get the feeling that we should stick around, at least until the SA diplomats get here." Nihlus sighed. "When's the last time we had a real vacation?"

"Not since you recruited us," Valtha said, smirking. "Nihlus Incorporated is a pretty terrible place to work. No salary, no benefits, no vacation, and we all get shot at on a regular basis. We are working for a Spectre, so I guess that's a bonus."

"Piss off," Nihlus replied warmly. "Alright. SA's diplomats are going to be arriving in, what, two, three days? I've got a few ideas for work, if you're all opposed to just hanging around the Citadel until the diplomats arrive. They've got their own security detail and one provided by the Council, but I'd like to be around all the same."

"Just in case?" asked Larix.

"Just in case." Nihlus drained his glass, hummed contently, then set it back down. Gurdok ambled over, took the glass and placed it in a nearby washer.

"You want another?"

"Nah. I'd like to stay reasonably alert for the next while," Nihlus groused. "Too much could go wrong." He nodded as Gurdok passed him a glass of water and was quiet for a moment. "Where's everyone else, anyway?" he asked after a while.

Larix drained his bottle, and set it on the counter. "Raetor, Trilok and a few others said they were going shopping for parts and working on the ship. Not sure about everyone else, but they'll be around if you need'em."

"You never answered my question, boss," Itok said.

"What, a two day vacation doesn't work for you?"

"I signed on to help you shoot things and get paid. Vacation is neither of those things."

Nihlus laughed slightly, shaking his head. "You know, there are these things called hobbies that people have. Ever tried looking into finding one that isn't shooting people?"

"Yeah, it fucking sucked." Itok grinned, tossed an empty bottle into a recycling container across the bar and caught a full one from Gurdok. "Nah, I'm cool with having a few days off. Besides, things are gonna be tense as fuck once the SA arrives," he said, popping the bottle's top off. "Be good to get some rest before then."

"Hey, it's better than nothing. Bes-" Nihlus stopped as his omnitool lit up with a message notification. He put down his cup of water, and checked his omni.

Just got out of meeting with the Council. Are you available by any chance? I'd like to speak with you regarding how we go forward from here. - Jalina

"Well. Looks like sticking with the one drink was a good idea," Nihlus said quietly.

"What, you on the clock again?" Itok frowned.

"Yeah. You guys have fun, don't get too smashed, got it?"

Jalina, as it turned out, was staying in an all-metal apartment block in the heart of the Presidium primarily inhabited by embassy workers and visiting dignitaries. Nihlus nodded at an asari security guard as he entered the grounds; the guard nodded back, and returned to staring at her terminal. The grounds themselves had a small flowerbeds and grass flanking a paved path to the building itself, and another guard watched the building's entrance. The turian looked up and down at Nihlus' armoured figure, and held out a hand.

"Sir, I'm afraid this area's off-limits. Are you here to see someone?"

Nihlus nodded. "Spectre Kryik, here to see Ambassador Jalina Atruus. She didn't mention going through security," he said plainly.

"Just a precaution," the guard replied, gesturing vaguely towards the Citadel Tower. "Things have been tense lately. Give me a moment to confirm that." The guard checked his omnitool for a few moments, then nodded, satisfied. "Sorry about that- go on ahead. Elevator's on the right once you're inside; Ambassador Atruus is on the ninth floor."

"No worries." Nihlus was about to open the building's doors when he leaned back. "By the way, the guard out front didn't so much as say a word to me."

The turian guard groaned. "Thanks for letting me know." His expression soured and he began to grumble as he ambled back down the path. "Boss is gonna kill us if he catches..."

Nihlus chuckled slightly, entered the building and did his best not to scuff the expensive-looking wooden floors and after a quick elevator ride he found himself in a small corridor with a single door, marked "J. Atruus." He looked for a doorbell, found none, and knocked lightly instead. The door opened a second later, revealing Jalina- still in her ambassadorial uniform. "Nihlus. Thank you for coming," she said, ushering him inside. The apartment was massive and luxuriously furnished, but gave off an air that Nihlus could only describe as 'sterile.' The couch in the living room just past the entrance looked untouched, the floors were unmarked and dining room table had a thin layer of dust on it. "I haven't been here for long," Jalina said, answering a question he hadn't asked. "And don't bother with your armour- I've kept mine on," she said, smirking.

"Mmm."

"Have a seat wherever you'd like. Are you thirsty?"

"I'll be alright," Nihlus said, taking a seat at the wooden dining table. The metal chair creaked very slightly underneath his weight, but seemed sturdy enough. Jalina crossed into the kitchen, opened the fridge and removed an unmarked, clear bottle which she brought with her back to the table. She sat down across from Nihlus, opened the bottle, and drank deeply before setting it down. "So," said Nihlus, "going forward?"

"Going forward. Yes." Jalina nodded slowly. "I was wondering if you were planning on staying on the Citadel while the Alliance's ambassadors are here."

"Yes, I am," he replied. "Already talked about it with my crew. We'll hang around, do our best to make sure things go smoothly."

Jalina smiled. "I was going to ask that very question, but it seems you've already taken care of it." Her expression sobered, and she looked off into space. "I saw your little speech, by the way."

Nihlus looked at the table and grunted. "I was just trying to help."

"No, really, it was fine work," Jalina said. "Could have used a little fine-tuning, but like you said, you're a soldier, not a politician. I get the feeling you don't make speeches often-"

"-I don't-"

"- and for a supposed amateur your oration is excellent. I don't think you understand how...pivotal your speech might be in changing public perception of the Alliance."

"I was just trying to to stop things from getting out of hand," Nihlus said, shrugging.

"Well, in any case, security is going to be through the roof. I'm not willing to say it'll be foolproof, but if anyone does get through to the diplomats I'm sure that the combination of both the C-Sec escort- and the Alliance's own security teams- will be enough to handle any threat. Of course, it'd look much better if no such attacks ever get that close to the diplomats."

"I was thinking the same thing." Nihlus crossed his arms and cocked his head in thought. "Initial plan of mine was to take high ground where possible with some of my crew while the rest of us go plainclothes near the actual diplomats. We scout ahead, look for troublemakers. Of course, that really only works if they're on foot. Has their itinerary been finalized?"

"C-Sec analysts are going over that now, apparently." Jalina pulled up her omnitool and tapped at it for a few moments. "I've arranged to have the travel plans sent to you once they're finished." Jalina sighed. "I find it odd that you weren't informed in any way regarding the issue at hand," she said carefully.

"It's not surprising," Nihlus replied. "Spectres are rarely tasked with security details, even though we end up doing it anyway."

"Ahh. Of course. Are any of your colleagues aware of the situation?"

"I left a note in the Spectre Office," Nihlus said plainly. "Haven't checked to see if anyone's responded, but I'm sure at least a few will be around to, ah, assist. I'll keep you informed."

"I appreciate it, Nihlus." She sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment. "I'd also like to thank you for getting Waliya off the hook, even if it's only for a short while."

"She deserved better than to be paraded around without at least some time to recover from all this," Nihlus agreed. "The right thing to do was obvious, and so I did it."

Jalina let out a barking laugh before speaking again. "Nihlus, you are indeed an interesting man."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment to my character or a dig at my naiveté."

"I'll do the responsible thing and refuse to answer that question," Jalina said, smiling warmly.


	15. ARC 4 - NEGOTIATION: ESCORT

**ARC IV: NEGOTIATION**  
 **CHAPTER ONE: "ESCORT"**  
 **The Citadel**  
 **August 4th, 462 Freeport**

"Escort One in position. Diplomat One in position. Doors are ready to open in one minute, stand by."

Jane did a quick press check, holstered her sidearm, sealed her helmet and noticed KN's icon lighting up in her HUD.

"Stay safe, Pilot," he said, before his icon winked back out.

"Of course." She was standing inside the airlock with the Solar's own resident Pilot, David Anderson, as well as members pulled from both the Solar and Demeter's combat teams. All of them were sealed and suited, carrying a variety of nonlethal ammunition and gadgets, and in place of their usual urban escort weaponry were carrying concealable compact weapons in their chest rigs. "Pilot Anderson?"

The taller Pilot next to her clamped a Trivolt to the inside of his chest rig, sealed it, and patted it a few times to check that it was shut. "All good. Alright, forty-eight hours in sim, let's get it right for real. I'll take point. We fan out, and we escort Diplomat One to the convoy. Clear?"

"Clear!" the group shouted back.

"Shepard, you have the honours," Anderson said with a nod. Jane turned to the exterior hatch, whose light had just turned from red to green with an audible beep, and pulled on the handle. The hatch hissed as it unsealed, revealing a massive series of landing pads each housing an Alliance ship. From the Solar, Jane could see down the gangway, past which a long series of barricades had been erected by C-Sec officers; a massive crowd was gathered at the far entrance of the hangar, their shouting too jumbled for her translator to pick anything clear out. A long line of C-Sec officers, many of them armoured, manned the barricade all the way to another exit on the hangar's far side where several aircars were parked. An armoured turian at the bottom of the gangway noticed the ship's hatch opening, and jogged up to greet Jane.

"Captain Castis Vakarian," the turian said, extending a hand. "I'll be acting as your security liason."

Jane shook his hand, then clasped forearms with him. "Pilot Jane Shepard, and this is Pilot David Anderson. The two of us are acting as the security team's leaders." She waited as Castis shook hands and clasped arms with David, then gestured to the aircars. "We recieved the briefing; has the situation changed at all?"

"No, Pilot. Protestors have been peaceful so far, and we've got our best handling security. The convoy is taking the route we sent previously, and is still the same size." Castis shifted uncomfortably for a moment, glancing at the crowds at the entrance of the hangar. "We'll be pulling in extra officers when you bring in the binary diplomats, too. Speaking of diplomats, have you tested the shields provided to you by the escort fleet?"

"We did," Anderson said. "The diplomats have been fitted with them, and so have we."

"Excellent. Alright," Castis said, checking his omnitool for a moment. "We're ready to move when you are." He nodded at the two Pilots, and made his way back down the gangway to a waiting group of C-Sec officers. Jane and David watched him go, then turned to their assembled group.

"We're clear," Anderson said into his helmet. "Ready to receive Diplomat One." The ship's interior hatch hissed open, and four humans in ambassadorial uniforms stepped into the airlock. "Ambassadors," he said. "If you'll come with us."

The security team formed a protective circle around the ambassadors and began to make their way off the ship and down the gangway; once they were on the hangar floor, the group grew larger as the C-Sec officers formed a loose barrier between the Alliance's group and the shouting crowds beyond the hangar barricades. As the group walked closer to the barricade on their way to the convoy, the ambassadors waved at the crowds and the shouting grew louder in response. Jane could make out the voices now, almost all of which were cheers and greetings. As she scanned her surroundings, she noticed a wide variety of signs being held up by the crowd, many of which were written in Standard. Most, thankfully, were messages welcoming the Alliance's diplomats, and several were proclamations of support for binaries. A much smaller group of protestors were demonstrating in their own section off to the side of the main group, with a series of manned barricades blocking the two groups. A few minutes later, the ambassadors arrived at the convoy, and were ushered into an aircar with several badges and emblems on its side; Anderson and two soldiers entered the vehicle with the ambassadors, while Castis, Jane and the other members of the Alliance security team got into another.

Castis sank into his chair, and took a deep breath. "Good so far," he said, looking up at Jane as he buckled himself in. "Good so far."

"Now we hope it stays that way when we bring the binaries onto the Citadel," Jane said sourly.

"Well, there's not much we can do to change what happens, right? Best to just focus on what we can do," Castis said plainly as the car took off. Jane watched as the view from the window transitioned from the hangar to a tunnel empty save for the convoy's vehicle, and then into the Citadel itself; Jane could see row upon row of residential blocks, shops, and other various buildings, all flanked by lanes of vehicles and other traffic. She could make out crowds of aliens of all sorts, some waving and others looking far from pleased.

"Poor air cover," Jane said quietly.

"Best we could do, I'm afraid," replied Castis sourly. "I argued to have the route stay out of public view as much as possible, and I imagine you and your team did something to the same effect. Had my argument denied, of course."

"Have to put on a good public face, right?"

Castis chuckled. "Precisely. Still, we have plenty of on-the-ground presence both on and off route, and several vehicles in the convoy dedicated solely to keeping an eye on things around us."

"Mmm." Jane continued to watch the buildings and crowds flash by the convoy; if one ignored the alien scripts and, well, aliens, she wouldn't have discounted the Citadel being just one of the plethora of megastations scattered throughout the Alliance. The convoy made good time, and with their route cleared the cars arrived at the Citadel Tower in less than half an hour. The cars made their way to the top of the tower and landed inside a private parking lot. Castis, Jane and the others were all unbuckling themselves without a word before their car had come to a complete stop, and exited their vehicle before any of the other security teams or ambassadors could. They moved to form a semi-circle around the left door of the ambassador's vehicle, and Jane flinched as she scanned the sightlines from her position.

"Don't open the door," she growled. Castis grunted in response, and tapped the door three times.

"What's wrong?"

"Hold on." Jane scanned the three buildings visible from her current position; all three were far away, but well within small-arms range. She tabbed through her HUD, and set her ocular augmentations to maximum magnification, zooming in on the spot where she swore she'd seen a figure laying prone in an open window. She tensed for a moment, then relaxed slightly. "Might have been nothing, but let's get a move on. And have patrols go through those buildings across from this parking lot."

The group left the parking lot and entered the Citadel Tower proper, making their way into the central corridor that lead to the Council Hall. Anderon's icon lit up in Shepard's HUD as he walked next to her. "Everything okay?"

"Could have sworn I saw someone in one of the buildings across from the parking lot," she replied. "Prone, good vantage point from an open window. Wasn't there when I scanned again."

"Cloak?"

"Not sure. Didn't see any indicators of one turning on."

"I don't like it," Anderson said.

"Mmm."

The corridors of the Citadel Tower were nearly empty save for the plethora of C-Sec guards which lined its corridors; Jane could see what she assumed were officials and bureaucrats standing behind sealed doors leading to other halls and rooms, their expressions almost all positive. Some even waved as the group passed them by. Once they reached the entrance to the main Council Hall, the security team split into two; Anderson and half the guards followed the ambassadors into the main hall, while Castis, Jane and the others remained outside the front door. Jane nodded at the soldiers under her command, and they promptly spread out to cover the entrance, while Castis walked up next to Jane away from his group of officers. "Just got confirmation from my men," he said quietly. "They did a sweep of all three buildings. Didn't find anyone, although they did find a small indent and scuff marks near that window you marked out."

"Shooter?"

"Most likely. Imprint was turian, along with marks that might have been a bipod."

"Odd. Egress points?"

"Cordoned all of them off, but our mystery turian was probably gone already. Building's mostly unoccupied offices, just finished construction two months ago."

"Damn. Alright, thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. Place should've already been clean- we had a cordon set up not far from there," Castis said, clearly frustrated. "We're re-sweeping everything along the convoy route and tightening our blockades."

"Not much else we can do, I suppose." Jane sighed, and shook her head. "Wish I could've popped on over when I first saw our mystery friend."

Castis nodded slowly in response. "Right. Wouldn't even have needed a lift, would you?" He gestured towards the boxy unit attached to Jane's lower back. "Rumour has it that you Pilot folk can do some fancy stuff with those packs of yours."

Jane shrugged. "I guess. Here's hoping you don't have to see the fancy stuff in action. If we spend the next few days standing around doing nothing that's more than fine with me."

"I know we're from different species, but I'm going to guess that talking like that is asking for trouble when it comes to humans?"

"Eh," Jane said, smirking. "Troubleshooting's easy. Shoot it."

"Soldier to the core, huh." Castis shook his head, smiling. "Spirits, I knew- know- soldiers who stuck around after they finished their mandatory service. Exactly like you. I suppose a lot of things stay the same, no matter where you go in the galaxy."

"Not like people can make do without certain things," she replied.

Castis barked a laugh in response. "Needing and wanting are two different things," he said happily. "Police aren't always exactly-" he paused as his omnitool lit up, and his expression soured as he read the message.

"Trouble?"

"I hope not," he said darkly. "Something's come up. You have my contact information?"

"Yeah, I got it with the initial security packet."

"Alright. Contact me if anything happens." Castis gestured first at one of his asari officers, who promptly walked over, then the rest of his team. "In the mean time, Lieutenant Suulra here is in charge. Anything minor, let her know." Tiberius then took off at a run towards the main elevator, and promptly disappeared past its doors.

Suulra watched Castis go with a distinctly uncomfortable expression, and nodded to Jane once he was gone. "Nice to be working with you, ma'am."

"Any idea what's going on, Lieutenant?"

"Can't say I do," the officer replied grumpily. "On the one hand, I'm hoping it can't have been that important if he didn't let us in on it. On the other hand..." she trailed off, staring at the main Council Hall doors. Suulra turned around, and stood in the spot Castis had been in, and was halfway through a sigh when a bright orange flash noiselessly erupted from beyond the elevator.

"DOWN! EVERYONE DOWN!" Jane shouted as she dove to the floor.

A second flash, then a third, both silent.

A rippling shockwave burst outside the elevator, shattering the glass panes lining the walls; the shards of glass sprayed into the hall, most thankfully landing far from the Council Hall entrance. Jane sprung to her feet, drew her smart pistol, and leapt forward, pulling the officer closest to the elevator back towards the Council Hall entrance. "Anderson! Anderson, sitrep!"

Anderson's icon lit up in her helmet. "We're alright. Just heard the blast. Position here is well secured, what's wrong?"

"No idea. Moving to secure this hall."

"Roger. Figure out what's going on, see if we have to move the ambassadors out of here."

"Got it." She turned to the members of her combat team, who were already deploying A-Walls near the elevator and checking their rifles. "Team! Cover the entrances. Cosby! Laflamme! With me! Suulra?"

The asari officer got to her feet and drew her sidearm. "We'll secure the other diplomats in here."

"Alright, go! Castis," she said into her helmet. "Castis, are you alright?" His icon lit up in her HUD, but there was no response for a moment. The audio activated a few seconds later; Jane could hear shouting, screaming and sirens in the background. Tiberius coughed several times before clearing his throat.

"I'm good, I'm good. Spirits, it's bad down here, somebody must have detonated...shit, shit. Everyone is alright up top?"

"Yeah, we're securing the entrances."

"Alright, good," Castis said, coughing again. "I'll be- there! There, the salarian in the green jacket!" he shouted, presumably to someone else. "After him! Shepard, you keep your people safe! You little fuck, get back here!"

"Castis?" Jane watched as his icon disappeared, and swore viciously. "Anderson, sounds like some sort of bomb went off on the ground floor. Castis is in pursuit of a suspect." The doors swung open behind her thirty seconds later; Anderson sprinted through.

"We're safe up here- plenty of security measures. Council says you can go after the bastard- no casualties!" He drew his Trivolt, and gestured to the shattered windows. "Good hunting."

* * *

Castis Vakarian had woken up this morning with a very specific idea of what he wanted to happen that day. Nearly being crushed to death in a falling elevator was not in that list, nor was narrowly avoiding being set on fire. He especially had not wanted to be chasing a terrorist suspect through the Presidium with a singed face and the worst spirits-damned headache he'd ever had. The salarian bomber was fleeing the concourse down a side exit, and thankfully most of the civilian crowds were taking the main exits from the area. Castis grunted as a few other officers who had managed to extricate themselves from the blast's rubble joined him in pursuit, and he barked into his suit's mic.

"All units, be advised, Captain Vakarian and three others in pursuit of bombing suspect. Target is salarian, wearing a green jacket and grey pants, average height, heading down exit three-six." C-Sec control repeated his description back over the main channel, and Castis watched his HUD expand to show more and more officers joining the chase from around the Presidium.

The area the salarian was heading into was little more than a straight platform with offshoot corridors leading into various embassies, and predictably the suspect avoided detouring towards them. Instead, he was sprinting over and around various tables and planters towards a series of parking pads usually reserved for embassy workers.

"Oh, shit," he said aloud. "All units, suspect is heading towards the embassy parking pads at six-three, possible accomplices!" Castis pushed himself harder, moving as quickly as he could make himself go, but he could tell he wasn't fast enough; he estimated that he was maybe halfway to the parking pads as the salarian stopped at the pads and watched as an unmarked, red aircar screamed towards the pad from further off in the distance. "Confirmed," he said into his mic. "Suspect is fleeing in a red aircar, looks like an Armali Unity!" He drew his stun gun, and took aim as he was still running when he flinched. Castis spun around as he heard a strange whistling noise, and saw what looked like a thin cable of some sort shoot past him and slam into a terminal on the parking pad. Seconds later, a turian-sized thing sailed past him in a grey-blue blur, rocketing smoothly into a roll into the ground less than thirty feet from the salarian. The salarian screamed in surprise, hastily drew a pistol and began firing at the person as he jumped off the edge of the parking pad and barely landed in the side of the red aircar, which took off before the side door had even closed.

"Jane?" Castis stood, dumbfounded, for several precious seconds before snapping out of it. "Pilot!"

Pilot Shepard (he presumed) briefly glanced at him from behind her helmet, and nodded before jumping into the traffic lanes below the parking pad. He sprinted over to the edge with the other officers in time to watch her land on an aircar's roof. She turned, jumped into the air, and as a blue pulse fired from the pack on her back she was suddenly flung up past the parking pad into the traffic lane above the officers. They all looked up to see Jane narrowly avoid slamming head-first into the bottom of a car somehow, instead reversing her momentum with another blast from her jump pack, her left hand outstretched and touching the bottom of the vehicle she was now attached to. She didn't stop, however; her pack flared again, and she was launched from the underside of the aircar, proceeding to fire her cable again at the vehicle the suspect was escaping in. The cable narrowly missed, instead latching onto a vehicle two cars behind it, and Jane shot forwards. Three-quarters of the way towards the car she was hurtling towards, she retracted the cable, turned her body on an angle, and fired her pack again, this time running on the side of the car before jumping with her pack again to the next vehicle. She continued to run across cars until she once again had a clear line of sight to the red aircar, and simply fired herself without a cable towards it, landing on the red aircar's roof. The vehicle wobbled from the impact of her landing, and disappeared from view behind another set of vehicles as Jane drew some sort of knife.

Castis and the other officers watched in awe, failing to notice the C-Sec vehicle that pulled up at the parking pad. The officer driving it blasted his horn, and jerked a talon towards the open side doors.

"The hell are you all doing," shouted the driver, "get in!" Castis hopped into the vehicle and slid into the passenger seat, and the police vehicle shot through traffic, sirens blaring. "Captain," the asari driver said. "There it is!"

Castis leaned forward in his seat and did his best not to gawk as he saw the red aircar swerving and jerking around, attempting to dislodge Jane to no effect. She was hanging from the bottom of the vehicle with only a single hand attached to the car itself, as if nothing was wrong. Jane simply waited as the car shook back and forth, and as the side door slid open, Castis swore he could see feel her grinning from behind her helmet. The Pilot jammed the knife into the bottom of the car, readied her sidearm in her right hand, and waited as a quarian leaned out of the side door with a rifle of some sort. Castis gawked as Jane fired her weapon, despite it being pointed forward, parallel to the vehicle, not up towards the door. A moment later the quarian flinched, clutching at its hand as it dropped the rifle and rolled back into the vehicle and Jane's pack flared to life as she slid hand-first across the bottom of the car, twisted to face the door and flung herself inside just as the side door shut behind her.

The car shuddered and jerked around several times, and finally stopped just as it was surrounded by group of C-Sec vehicles. Castis motioned to have his vehicle pull up next to the red aircar, drew his sidearm, and activated the external megaphone. "This is C-Sec! Pilot Shepard, are you alright?" There was no response for a long, tense minute, before the right side door of the vehicle popped open.

The driver of the vehicle, a turian, was slumped over the steering console with his hands clamped together by some sort of cuffing device. One quarian was squirming on the floor with blood spattered all over its suit, and the other was laying limp on the floor of the vehicle. The salarian in the green jacket was audibly howling in pain, and Castis could see that his right arm was twisted at an extreme angle and bent out of shape; his left hand was clamped to the floor with a device similar to the one the turian was restrained with. Jane had her sidearm pressed to the side of his head, and waved at Castis as she unsealed her helmet's faceplate. Castis was hardly an expert at deciphering human expressions, but if had to guess she looked more annoyed than scared or exhausted.

"Sorry, Captain Vakarian," she said as his vehicle pulled within earshot. "Couldn't figure out how to open the door at first."

"Ah. Right. Uh, I see you've subdued our suspects," Castis said, doing his best to ignore the salarian's screaming.

Jane shrugged. "They'll be alright. Gotta get the quarians checked out first, probably. I knocked one of'em out, but the other one's got a hole in his suit. Turian's fine, he just passed out from shock or something, and our salarian friend here, well, yeah. Where are you guys dropping them off?"

"I, uh, probably at headquarters."

"I need a lift back to the Citadel Tower- mind if I catch a ride?"

* * *

"Report?"

Jane made her way past the small crowd of C-Sec officers to the bench just outside the private room the Council and Alliance's ambassadors were in, and walked up to David. "Went pretty good," she said, testing to see if the bench would take her weight. Satisfied, she sat down next to Anderson, unsealed her faceplate and took her helmet off, clipping it to her belt. "Bagged'em alive."

"Conscious and good for interrogation?"

"Not all of them," Jane said, shrugging. "Turian who was driving the car should be up in a bit- just punched him in the head real soft. Quarian with the hole in his suit is fine, though Captain Vakarian tells me suit breaches usually result in quarians getting sick. The other quarian isn't doing so great- he nearly got a shot into my back, acted on reflex and apparently I hit him a bit harder than I intended. Lucky I didn't slush him, honestly."

"And the bomber- the salarian?"

"Oh, he's fine. Just yanked his arm and snapped it around a bit."

Anderson looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded to himself. "Three out of four isn't half bad."

"Mmm. You think they'll let us do a little, ah, questioning of our own?"

"Probably not. Besides, we'd need to install ports for the interrogators to do a full dive, and I doubt the cops would be okay with that."

"Shame," Jane said, sighing. "So? What's the plan?"

"Negotiations are back on track. Probably gonna see if we can get some more of our own security on here. Wish we could have our Titans with us," he said sourly. "Kahlee's probably itching to get out here and bust some skulls."

"Well, if we're going to be bringing the binary diplomats here at some point, surely it's not much of stretch to let the binary combat teams join us too," Jane replied.

Anderson snorted and shrugged. "I get the feeling the Council won't be on board with that. Something about evil killer robots?"

"We're not the one bombing civilians and getting all trigger-happy over nothing," Jane protested.

"You don't have to convince me, Shepard. Anyways, until we get our briefing once we're back on the Solar we're just guessing."

"Not like we have anything else to do," Jane said, drawing her dataknife and spinning it in her hands.

The two Pilots both got up and returned to their posts at the entrance to the waiting room, nodding at the C-Sec officers they passed by. They spent the next few hours watching the Council Hall; it remained mostly empty save for the occasional C-Sec officer rotating shifts. The pair spent another three hours alternately standing around, chatting with C-Sec officers or the other Alliance soldiers before David pulled Jane aside. "Signal's up," he said. "I'll escort the ambassadors."

"Got it." Jane watched him walk back into the main Council Hall, and she rounded up the combat team members waiting around the elevator. "CTs, with me- we're heading back to the ships shortly."

"Yes, Pilot!" The soldiers immediately began taking up positions around the upper concourse, and around the private parking pad that they'd originally entered from. Jane made her way to the parking pad and noticed an incoming C-Sec vehicle. It landed at an empty pad, its passenger door opened and a frazzled-looking Captain Vakarian stepped out. He noticed Jane standing nearby, and sprinted over to her; the two shook hands and clasped arms.

"Pilot Shepard, perfect- I was hoping to speak with you before we left."

"Something wrong?"

"No, no, just wanted to thank you for dealing with things earlier in such an, ah, expert manner."

"My pleasure. How're our criminal friends holding up?"

"Better than expected, actually. The turian you knocked out is up with a serious headache, but nothing else. The salarian's fine, too, though he'll need to wear a cast for a while. As for the two quarians, the one you shot will live, and his suit sealed up before any major infections could set in. He'll even keep his hand, thanks to the medics, though he'll be fairly sick. The quarian you punched is the worst out of all them- apparently you punched him hard enough to cause serious trauma to his organs."

"Damn. I did my best to hold back on that hit. He'll live?"

"Yes, he will, although I'm informed that he's going to be very, very sore for at least a week or two even with painkillers." Castis shook his head slowly. "Spirits, you nearly pulped his internal organs while holding back. You know, me and a few other officers, we watched that movie in the media package the Alliance sent? Metal Fist? I didn't know that was meant to be a documentary," he said, chuckling. "I'd hate to see what you can do with your bare hands when you're mad. And the flying- you put on quite a show."

"Just doing my job, Captain."

Castis let out a loud chuckle. "Job. Right. Some of my officers asked me to see if you have helmet footage of the fight in the aircar. For training purposes strictly, of course."

"I mean, I could check with my superiors."

"You know, they were joking, but maybe there's something to it. Ah, there they are." He nodded at the entrance to the parking lot, where the Alliance's ambassadors were now gathered, along with their security detail. "Ambassadors, Pilot Anderson," he said, gesturing to the vehicles and nodding slightly. "The convoy is ready to leave at your convenience."

"Captain Vakarian," Ambassador Saha said, stepping forward. "A pleasure to meet you in person. Thank you for handling our security; please don't let today's events weigh on you. You handled the situation expertly, and your reputation as a seasoned investigator precedes you."

"Thank you, ma'am. I must apologize nonetheless, and rest assured that this will not happen again."

Another ambassador, a tall, pale-skinned woman, joined Irene. "There's no need to defend yourself, Captain- we're not trying to insult or accuse you of anything. Things are tense and I know it must be difficult for your officers."

"I appreciate it, Ambassador Goyle." He nodded as the rest of the ambassadors and their security detail entered the vehicles; once everyone else was mounted, he got back into the C-Sec vehicle, this time in the back seat with Jane. He sighed as the car took off, joining the convoy as it began to make its way back to the Alliance's hangar. "Right, I also wanted to mention that the Executor said that given today's events you and Pilot Anderson are free to increase the size of your security detail if you'd like," he said, buckling himself in.

"Oh? I appreciate it," Jane said. "Did your boss mention a cap on the increase? I don't think anyone plans on bringing an army onto the Citadel, but it'd be nice to know."

"I believe he recommended doubling the detail to twenty soldiers, not including Pilot Anderson or yourself. It's not a hard cap or anything, but if you could finalize the details before tomorrow morning that would be helpful."

"Sure thing. I'll discuss it with my superiors tonight, although twenty soldiers should be more than enough."

"Excellent. I'll go ahead and requisition all of the vehicles just in case." He sighed and sunk into his seat. "Spirits, I hope that's the last of any, ah, interlopers."

"Mmm. You think those idiots from today are part of a bigger group?"

"I hope not."


	16. 4-1: INTERLUDE - CR II & SPECTRE

"Breaking news: a massive explosion has just occurred outside the Citadel Tower in the outer concourse. Authorities have not issued a press release yet but are urging everyone to stay away from the area. We go to Lower Council correspondent Luciter Agamus, who was nearby when the attack happened. Luciter?"

"It's chaos, Adaria. As you can see there it looks like the explosion went off at the base of the main elevator; the elevator itself appears to have crashed into the ground and burst into flames. Firefighters and EMTs are on-site and have contained the fires and are now treating the injured and wounded. I've, uh, spoken with an EMT who says that initial estimates count the number of deceased at sixty and the number of wounded far higher than that."

"Unbelievable. Has anyone stepped forward to take-"

"-hold on, I'm seeing something-"

"-Salarian in the green jacket-"

"-Adaria, it looks like that's a C-Sec officer chasing after someone, yes, they're chasing a salarian in a green jacket who is fleeing the scene-"

"-little fuck! Get back here-"

"I'm not sure what's going on Adaria but it looks like a bunch of officers are in pursuit. I'd urge everyone to stay away from the Citadel Tower and to anyone in the area right now please contact your friends and family to let them know you're saf- oh, spirits, there, look there!"

"What are we looking at, Luci- oh, goddess."

"Somebody just jumped from the top of the Citadel Tower without a chute and, spirits, no, they're alright, they're still moving! How are they going so fast? Adaria I'm not sure if saw that but it looks like someone just flew down from the Citadel Tower and is flying after the officers!"

"Incredible, absolutely incredible. Luciter we'll get back to you, but we have reports that C-Sec is issuing a preliminary statement on the matter..."

* * *

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 **Topic: Explosion outside Citadel Tower!  
In: Boards ► General  
Twochanka **(Original Poster)  
Posted On Aug 4th 2157:  
I'm a block away from the CItadel Tower. Big explosion just went off at the base of the tower- looks like the elevator caught fire or something. Lots of smoke.

Got my Citadel Central First Aid IV last month...time to put it to good use.

 **(Showing page 1 of 898)**

 **►Palaven Rising**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Oh, spirits...weren't there a TON of people down in the concourse? I hope everyone's okay...

 **►Ryncolgoggles**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Was just headed to the bathroom when the blast went off. I'm okay but it's looking nasty, guys. Lotta people look injured or dead. The explosion hit the elevator- thankfully it was already near the ground floor so it didn't crush anyone (I hope.) Also saw a bunch of cops running after a salarian (?)

 **►TranQuil**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Why the fuck would you blow up a bunch of civilians? Whether you're pro or anti Alliance doing this doesn't get you any support. Hope those officers put the bastards that did this in the ground.

 **►AgentSausage**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Maybe the bomber thought they were gonna bust past the C-Sec cordon, take the elevator, get past all the guards up top and blow up the Alliance's politicians?

I mean, it's not a smart plan, but anyone trying to bomb the CT during first contact has to be unbelievably stupid.

 **►Scales23**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Holy shit so those cops took off a second ago chasing that salarian right? SOMEONE JUST JUMPED FROM THE TOP OF THE CITADEL TOWER, HIT THE GROUND RUNNING AND FLEW AFTER THEM

LIKE LITERALLY FLEW

 **►NoFishInTheLake**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Yeah, saw that too...maybe it was an Alliance bodyguard or something?

Anyways EMTs and Disaster Response are on site, guess they were waiting nearby just in case. Fires are being put out but there are a lot of injured folks here. I've only got First Aid II but I'm gonna try and help out- if you're not in the area you should probably stay away to be safe.

 **►Selector Ten**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
I can't believe somebody would do this. It just doesn't make any sense! If you're anti-alien or whatever all this does is give the Alliance leverage...

 **►Gimme!**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Spirits, I work across the channel directly opposite the tower and I can see the smoke and stuff from here. I was all pissed that I got saddled with the afternoon shift today since I was gonna go see if the Alliance people would make an appearance but now I feel lucky.

 **►Red Smoothie** (Moderator)  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
I'll be making a site-wide alert banner in a moment but as a heads-up, C-Sec are telling people who aren't already in the Citadel Tower area to stay away. Stay safe you guys!

 **End of Page. 1,** **2** **,** **3** **...** **896** **,** **897** **,** **898**

* * *

 **Topic: Alliance Pilot takes out terrorists! Footage inside!  
In: Boards ► General  
Sage **(Original Poster)  
Posted On Aug 4th 2157:  
Was driving to work when I saw this red Unity scream past traffic and saw a cop car chasing after it- didn't know it was the terrorists at the time. Anyways the cars were headed away so I thought things were all good when [this] happened...I had to review my dashcam footage when I got to work to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

Yeah, watch it again. That is an Alliance soldier - one of their Pilots, I think they're called? - using a fucking JETPACK and some sort of grappling hook to FLY FROM CAR TO CAR and RUNNING ON THE SIDES OF CARS, then flying INTO the terrorist car. Footage is a little blurry but you can see a quarian (?) lean out of the car with a gun of some sort. Not sure what happens next but it looks like the Pilot shot the quarian somehow despite being underneath the car, flew inside, and then knocked out or killed all the terrorists in less than a minute.

Man, I don't even have words as to how unbelievably badass this is. Hoping someone closer has some footage.

 **(Showing page 1 of 972)**

 **►VolusMolus**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
HOLY SHIT IT'S REAL

METAL FIST WAS REAL?

I thought it was a shitty action movie not a FUCKING DOCUMENTARY

How fast are the Pilot's reaction times to like, fly through moving traffic without getting hit by a car or missing a jump?

 **►Relay Echo**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Yeah, uh, was carpooling to a friend's place. Got a bit of footage of my omni [here], might clear up things since I was a bit closer to the car.

So the footage starts when the Alliance Pilot flies into / onto the car, then slides from the roof to the underside of the car using only their glove? Then they stick this knife thing into the bottom of the car for some reason. Quarian pops out of the side of the vehicle with a rifle, Pilot shoots their pistol and it somehow hits the quarian.

Watch the video again, you guys. The pistol shot hits, even though it's not aimed at them and there's no way their shot could have hit them from that angle. What the hell kind of gun is that?

Anyways then the Pilot jetpacks into the car from the bottom, and then a minute later they open the door. Couldn't get a good look since all the C-Sec cars were in the way but it looks like the Pilot managed to take out everyone inside.

That's top notch badassery right there, guys.

 **►Parallaxing**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
I'm not up to date on the info the Alliance released...these guys are like, special forces, right? Not all of their soldiers can do this? Because that would be absolutely terrifying.

 **►Twochanka**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Man that was badass. Jerks got what they deserved. I just hope that's the last of any attacks, today was bad enough.

 **►Wingspan**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Yeah, from what I've read / watched being a Pilot is a pretty huge deal, lots of testing and training and whatnot.

Also do we have confirmation that the soldier got the bastards alive? Much as I want to see'em dead the cops should probably do some questioning.

 **►Eezotrooper**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
I really want to learn why these idiots thought they could get away with bombing a bunch of people outside the Citadel Tower and what they actually wanted to achieve.

I'm still trying to think of why someone would think this'd be a good idea and nothing's coming to me.

 **►Mixins**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
Let's back it up a second. Alliance special forces (right?) have jetpacks that can let them fly as fast as a car, grappling hooks, and guns that can shoot stuff that you can't see.

That's cheating, man.

 **►Mr. Chompers**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
I want that handgun badly. Would have killed for something like that while I was doing my service. Wonder if it's super expensive / standard issue for their average soldiers?

 **►ModDealerX**  
Replied On Aug 4th 2157:  
I wonder why the Pilot stuck a knife in the bottom of the car? You guys saw that, right?

Also if this is what happened when the Alliance showed up without their binary (I think that's the correct term) people I'm really not looking forward to how the anti-robot nutcases are gonna react to that.

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* * *

 **August 5th**

"Captain Vakarian."

Castis spun around, hand reaching for his sidearm when he noticed who it was. He sighed, and took his hand off his hip. "Nihlus. You have to stop doing that."

Nihlus, who was leaning up against the wall of the parking lot, shot Castis a smirk. "What? Just dropped by to say hello."

"Spirits, man. I was two seconds away from shooting you."

"You're not fast enough," Nihlus said, grinning. "I'd have stopped you."

Castis holstered his sidearm and clasped arms with Nihlus. "So, what are you doing here? Please tell me you don't have bad news, because I have had enough fucking bad news for an entire lifetime."

"No, no, nothing of the sort. Actually, I've got a gift for you." Nihlus walked past the rows of C-Sec cars to the visitor spots, and stopped at a black, boxy Armali Economy Ten covered in dents and scratches.

"You still drive this junk? What, being a Spectre not pay well enough?"

"Hey, shut it," said a salarian who got out of the driver's seat. "Eco here is a noble steed who has served Lord Kryik with great honour."

Nihlus sighed and rubbed his fringe. "Itok, please shut up."

"Okay."

"Wow, Nihlus. Made a friend?"

"Sadly, yes. This is Itok Kazus, an associate of mine. Itok, this is Captain Castis Vakarian, an old friend of mine."

"A pleasure to meet you, Itok," Castis said with a nod.

"Cool."

"Manners, Itok."

"Cool."

"Spirits. Anyways,Castis," Nihlus said, moving to the trunk, "My crew and I picked up a few gifts for you." He nodded at Itok, who drew a sidearm and clicked its safety off, and aimed it at the trunk. Nihlus popped it open, and Tiberius stepped back as he looked inside.

Stuffed into the trunk were three individuals- a salarian and two quarians- with multiple restraints locked around their arms and legs. They noticed the trunk opening and began shouting and squirming; Nihlus simply grinned. "Caught these suckers talking about shooting up the Alliance's diplomats tomorrow, along with a makeshift sniper position just outside the East-Six tunnel in the Presidium." Nihlus pulled an OSD from his armour and passed it to Castis, who accepted it without a word. "We got their guns, shields and some explosives in the backseat in a lockbox, and if you need more evidence- which you shouldn't, but just in case- let me know, and I'll have it delivered."

"What."

"Hey, nobody said being a Spectre meant ignoring the law, Castis."

"That's, uh, not what I'm surprised about. Alright, give me a moment." Castis pulled up the branch's main desk on his omnitool and clicked the message button.

"CS Internal, go ahead."

"Operator, this is Captain Vakarian. I have three suspects in, uh, the parking lot, visitor's section. They're ready for transfer to holding via Spectre arrest on charges of attempted acts of terror against diplomats."

There was a long, long pause on the other end of the line before the operator answered. "Okay. Yeah. Uh, one second, I'll have a transfer team sent out shortly."

"Have the crew bring a cart out; we've got some weaponry that needs to be secured. That'll be all."

"Understood. CS Internal out." Castis turned to Nihlus and Itok and sighed, and leaned up against the wall next to Nihlus' car. "You manage to get anything out of these idiots?"

"Not really," Nihlus responded angrily. "Said they acted alone, and all their gear's civilian-legal."

"Shit. Alright, that'll have to do. I'm not sure if these guys being unconnected to four Pilot Shepard caught earlier today makes me feel better or worse."

"Right?" Nihlus and Castis both turned to Itok, who was still training his sidearm close to the open trunk. "Like, if there was some sort of conspiracy to fuck up contact then we could go out and put those suckers in the ground. Bunch of assholes thinking they're gonna play assassin or whatever? We can't cover the entire Citadel."

"Well, I appreciate you bringing these three in for me," Castis replied. "Hold up." He turned to see a group of officers approaching with a small cart; they saluted Castis, and he gestured at the trio in the trunk.

"Captain, we'll take it from here," one of the officers said. As the officers began hauling the trio of suspects out of the trunk and to their feet, Itok holstered his pistol, walked over to Nihlus' side of the car and helped him pull a long weapons case out of the back seats; they loaded it onto the cart and waited for the officers to clamp their own restraints on the suspects before removing the ones they'd used.

"Everything good, officers?" asked Nihlus.

"Yes sir," a turian responded. "We'll take it from here."

Castis watched the team leave as the suspects shouted and cursed at them, and turned to Nihlus. "So, what's your plan now?"

"Well, I've got my team running stakeout on a bunch of places, mostly around the Presidium. Itok and I'll probably do a sweep around the Alliance's hangar before packing it in for the evening."

"Hah. You don't ever stop, do you?"

"I take breaks. Occasionally." Nihlus' smile disappeared and his expression flattened into a serious one. "Once the Alliance's diplomats are mostly safe, I'm taking a vacation. Until then, there's no time for that. Still, once this is over I'd love to sit down, catch up."

Castis clasped arms with Nihlus, and returned Itok's wave. "Me too, Nihlus. Itok, a pleasure meeting you."

"Of course, man."

"Well, keep me informed if you catch any more unwanted friends."

"And you let me know if you need some tape cut- I'll see what I can do." Castis watched the two get back into their van and leave the parking lot, before heading back to his own car. He unlocked the door, got inside, and sat in the seat quietly for a moment before setting the autopilot to take him back to his apartment.


	17. 4-2: DELIBERATIONS

**CHAPTER 2: "DELIBERATIONS"  
August 7th**

"Pilot Shepard? What's the matter?" Castis put his can of Paragrade into his car's cupholder and frowned.

"Jane is fine, Captain. It's the binary diplomats," the human voice on the other end of the line said, sighing.

"What about them? They said they'd reconsider, at least for another day, right?"

"Not anymore. Something about how negotiations have hit a wall since without them the diplomats can't really speak for the Alliance as a whole."

"And the holopresence?"

"Network was set up and they've been using it, but both the Council and our diplomats are more or less against the idea of continuing to negotiate that way. Too impersonal, doesn't let our diplomats confer with one another properly, bad for normalizing binaries, you get the idea. Pilot Anderson and I have been discussing the issue with the diplomats about this for nearly an hour now but it's just going in circles."

"Alright. My team's set to arrive in, one second, three minutes. I can't promise anything, though."

"I appreciate it. Shepard out."

Castis checked his omnitool, and leaned back in the passenger seat, groaning as the asari in the back seat leaned forward. "Cap? Everything good," she asked, "or do we need to start worrying?"

"Binary diplomats are getting real testy about being left out of the negotiations. They're planning on heading to the CT- maybe even doing their tour- whether we or their own security teams want," he responded without looking back. "You were right, Isena."

"Score!" The asari leaned back, and punched the batarian officer sitting next to her lightly. "Pay up, Kophim." The batarian sighed, and tapped his omnitool.

"Man, I never win these bets," Kophim said sourly.

"You do know your Captain is literally sitting right in front of you?"

"What? There's no reg against a bit of friendly betting," Isena replied, crossing her arms. "Just a little wager between friends, that's all."

"I dunno, could be a section sixteen subsection twenty," Kophim said. "Does this count as improper use of C-Sec funds?"

"No way. This is out of our own pockets. Private transaction. We're totally in the clear."

"You're remarkably well-informed regarding the legality of this," Castis said, smirking. "Wouldn't happen to have violated the regulation previously, hmm?"

"No, sir. That would be a breach of the confidence and trust given to a C-Sec officer, sir." Isena saluted stiffly, and Kophim snickered.

"Spirits. Alright, we're coming up on the hangar. Gear check and get serious."

Moments later, the vehicle split off from the convoy of C-Sec vehicles, landing closer to the _Balance_ while the other cars landed in a staggered line throughout the hangar. Isena and Kophim stayed with the vehicle as Castis made his way to the _Balance_ 's gangway, and twitched as he saw- thought he saw- a flicker of some sort at the edge of his vision on top of the ship. He instinctively reached for his sidearm, and relaxed slightly as his visor's scan showed nothing there. Cautiously, he made his way up the gangway and was met by Pilot Anderson, whose dark-skinned face was visible beneath his helmet's raised faceplate. The two clasped arms, then shook hands; Castis followed him into the airlock and stopped as David stopped him. "Captain. You alright?"

"Sorry, Pilot Anderson. I thought I saw something on top of the ship." Anderson's expression became serious in an instant, and he shut the door behind them.

"Tell me everything."

"Was walking towards the gangway, saw something right about on top of the middle of the ship, looked like a sort of flicker? Like a white flash."

"Odd." David paused and his eyes flicked back and forth at something Castis couldn't see for a moment before he shrugged. "Our sensors aren't picking anything up, nor have our patrols- and believe me, we're very thorough. Maybe something from the explosion?"

"I am still having these damned headaches," Castis admitted. "Medics cleared me- said there's no real damage- but I'll get it checked out just in case."

"I wouldn't worry too much," David replied as he punched in a code on a keypad on the airlock's ship-side door. "We're all on edge. Jumping at nothing is better than missing something serious." The door hissed open, and Castis nodded and waved at the various crew members who greeted him as the pair walked through the CIC and into a meeting room. Several human soldiers, some of whom Tiberius recognized, were standing around the room, mixed in with what Castis assumed were binary soldiers; Jane was seated at the table in her Pilot suit, her helmet clipped to her belt. Eight ambassadors, four of them binary, noticed the pair entering the room and stood up, Jane following their lead a second later.

"Ah, Captain Vakarian," Irene said, walking over to Castis. She clasped arms and shook hands with him, then stepped back. "A pleasure to have you on board again."

"Thank you, Ambassador Saha," he said before turning to the other human diplomats. "Ambassadors Goyle, Mazurov, Kufuor, it is good to see you as well. I'm afraid," he said, gesturing slightly towards the binaries, "that I haven't met you all before."

One of the binaries stepped forward; at a distance, Castis would have been hard-pressed to tell it wasn't human, with its dull-brown metal "skin" and a face not unlike a male human's save for the seam lines and sleek curves. It clasped arms and shook hands with Tiberius, and smiled warmly. "EJ-E7E2C1 at your service," the binary said with a deep, male voice. "It's an honour to finally meet you, Captain Vakarian. I know my full name is a bit of a mouthful- you can call me Enkhjargal. These are IV-E7E0C0, SH-E7E3C2, and NN-E0E2C6; Ivy, Su-Hyun, and Ninian." The other three binary ambassadors all looked similar to Enkhjargal, except that they resembled female humans and had different coloured chassis- black, dark blue and green respectively.

"A pleasure to meet all of you," Castis replied, shaking hands and clasping arms with each of them. Jane simply smiled at him and clasped arms, before sitting back down.

"Please, have a seat, Captain," Ivy said as the ambassadors returned to their chairs. "We were just discussing our itinerary going forwards as well as our security protocols; I'm sure your point of view and your knowledge means that you have plenty to contribute."

Castis sat down next to Jane and sighed. "That's exactly the case. Allow me to begin by saying that I understand your position, and under different circumstances would be more than happy to recommend that your full delegation attend the negotiations and carry out the planned tour of the Citadel," Castis said, shaking his head. "Sadly, the circumstances we find ourselves in aren't quite what you or I had hoped for."

"One's duties and one's desires do not always find themselves in alignment," Ninian said quietly.

"A fair point. In any case, I'm prepared to recommend that all of you attend the negotiations at the Citadel Tower. C-Sec is working at maximum capacity and our escort security is at a level I personally feel comfortable with." Castis leaned slightly forward as the ambassadors all nodded, clearly happy with the proceedings- and did his best to not respond to Jane's slightly surprised expression.

"That's excellent news, Captain. Still," Ivy said, clasping her hands together, "I sense there's a catch to this."

"There is. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend that you continue with the planned Citadel tour at this time." Castis shrugged slightly. "There's simply no way to guarantee your safety and surely you'd agree that your well-being is of the utmost importance. Your itinerary pegs you as being here for nearly another week; the tour can still happen. Our teams are working around the clock to design a route and create a security plan that we feel will provide the best amount of protection possible, given the situation." The room was quiet for a moment before the ambassadors quietly talked amongst themselves before apparently agreeing with one another.

"Not the outcome we'd have liked," Ambassador Mazurov noted in a smooth tone. "But we understand."

"Thank you. I promise you that my teams will finish their work as quickly as possible; I know the tour is an important step in the diplomatic process. For now, my officers are ready to escort you to the Citadel Tower at your convenience. I'll take my leave for now, if that's alright."

"Thank you, Captain Vakarian," Irene said with a small nod. "We'll be out shortly."

"I'll escort you out," Jane said, getting up from her seat. Castis followed her out of the meeting room, through the CIC and up to the airlock where David was waiting. The trio entered the airlock, and both Pilots put on their helmets as the door sealed behind them.

"How'd it go?" asked David.

"Alright," Jane said, shrugging as the doors cycled. "Honestly was surprised that you'd let them attend in-person meetings, Captain Vakarian."

Castis sighed, shaking his head. "There's really not much we can do in regards to convoy safety- we've already posted security all along the route and we're got just about every officer we can afford to have on security detail, with plenty of security at the CT." He paused as the doors opened, then stepped out onto the gangway. "I mean, you're soldiers and you've seen the footage of the denser wards, right? Having any sort of on-foot tour is a nightmare security-wise but we're almost done working on an optimal route."

"Well, we'll have our own security there as well. Our ambassadors are well protected, and anyone who attacks will have both C-Sec and the Alliance to answer to," David said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Castis replied as they walked down the gangway. "You know, Jane, that our dashcam footage of you basically plays on repeat nonstop in the rec room?"

Jane simply shrugged. "I'm not even that great a Pilot, Castis."

"What."

"Yeah, I'm fresh out of training," she replied nonchalantly. "David here's way faster than me- should see him in action. Kicked my ass at least half the time we sparred."

"More than half, kid," David said, laughing.

"Spirits. The guys down in Special Response would pay a ton to watch that. Hell, I would too." He stopped at the bottom of the gangway and surveyed the C-Sec cars arrayed throughout the hangar, and turned to the two Pilots. "I'll be in the usual car at the far end of the convoy; I'm assuming you'll be coming with us today, Jane?"

"Yeah. I'll see you in a bit." Castis made his way down the hangar, passing by the massive Alliance ships and nodding at the officers he passed by. He stopped at his car, where Isena and Kophim were both waiting. Isena pocketed a chemstick and waved as Castis approached, and Kophim pulled a slim can from his jacket and tossed it to Castis.

"Got you another can of Paragrade, Captain."

Castis examined the can and sighed. "Paragrade Light isn't the real thing, Kophim. Come on."

"You've already had your two per day, Castis."

"Can says you can have up to five a day, thank you very much." Castis tossed the can back, moved to the rear of the vehicle and opened it, pulling out an old, black Turian Armed Forces ration kit covered in scratches; he popped it open, revealing several cans of Paragrade. He pulled one out, sealed the kit, tossed it back into the trunk and shut the hatch. He shot Kophim a smirk, then popped the can open and drained it in under a minute before throwing the can at a recycling bin near the edge of the hangar's railings; it bounced off the bin and rattled as it hit the railing and fell out of sight.

"So? What's the plan for today," Isena asked, "or is it business as usual?"

"Binary diplomats are heading to the CT today. Same escort run, but it's not like the particulars have changed. Eyes open, keep the diplomats safe, the usual. Pray vigorously that we don't have to rely on Pilot Shepard take down any more idiots."

Kophim nodded and got back into the car; Isena followed him after taking a quick drag from her chemstick. Castis rubbed his head as another mild headache pulsed for a moment, and sat down in the driver's seat of the car with the door open. He leaned against the dashboard and sighed as he saw Jane and a large group of soldiers, both human and binary, jog down the gangway and take up defensive positions around the ship. "Just sat down," he grumbled to nobody in particular.

"Come on, Captain," Isena said, crossing her arms and stiffening in an impression of Executor Pallin that Castis did his best to not laugh at. "It is imperative that you represent C-Sec in the best light possible to ensure our reputation is upheld, Captain Castis Vakarian. Go, and greet the representatives of the Alliance's security teams!"

"Is the dashcam recording? Because you probably don't want that getting to the Executor," Kophim said, grinning.

"No, it's perfect," Castis said, getting up. "Now we've got blackmail material," he said, chuckling.

* * *

"Ah, Ambassadors - all of you - welcome," Tevos said, bowing slightly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly. Please, this way," she said, gesturing towards the room the group had been convening in for the past few days. The group made their way into the room and took their seats at the conference table. "I know we've done the introductions remotely already, so perhaps getting down to business straight away would be best. Are there any objections?" She waited for a moment as everyone seated at the table stated their satisfaction, and she nodded. "Very well. I'll begin with the most pressing issue. We'd like to address the issue of binary rights in Citadel space," Tevos said.

"An important issue indeed," Ivy said, her tone carefully neutral. The Councilors looked at one another as their expressions stiffened for the briefest of moments before Sparatus leaned forward in his chair.

"Yes. You are correct, Ambassador Ivy. We will extend the full rights owed to any sentient creature in Citadel space to all binary citizens of the Systems Alliance, and will not in any way impede or denounce the continued creation of binaries in the Systems Alliance," Valern said. "Please, allow me to finish," he noted, raising a hand as he sensed the tightness in the room. "No doubt the specificity of rights being extended to citizens of the Alliance seems like a poor attempt to placate you all as it appears it fails to address the rights of artificial intelligences within our space. Let me assure you that this measure is being taken to protect the rights of artificial intelligences in Citadel space."

"By all means, continue," Su-Hyun replied calmly.

Sparatus simply nodded. "The Citadel and its peoples have had a difficult history with artificial intelligences. With that history in mind, the contemperary outlook of the average citizen towards artificial intelligences is generally antagonistic. Legal development of artificial intelligences has been restricted and monitored, and today is carried out primarily for research purposes." Sparataus shook his head before continuing. "That is why I haven't used the term 'binary' when describing artificial intelligences in Citadel space. Correct me if I'm wrong, Ambassadors, but the label of binary was one that was created by and for binaries; it is a name which speaks to the desire for integration and, if you'll excuse the term, organically developed culture of your non-human peoples. No such culture exists in Citadel space. No such movement exists in Citadel space. We can lament that fact and examine the history, the root causes of this fact, but our dislike of current cirumstances does not change reality. Only four corporations are licensed to create artificial intelligences and none of those companies- their individual researchers, maybe, but not the companies as a whole-, as far as I am aware, is doing so to create a new type of citizen who stands equal to the organic peoples of the galaxy. Let us say, hypothetically, that the Council gives a blank slate to any corporation who wishes, moving forward, to create artificial intelligence, in the name of synthetic rights. Do you believe, truly, that a majority, if any, of the research being carried out would be for the benefit of binary peoples?" Saral waited for a moment and the gathered Ambassadors shook their heads slowly. "Even if we assume that every company who jumps on what they see as an opportunity has only the purest intentions in mind, the peoples of the Citadel will not see it that way."

"You propose, then, time for binaries to be normalized?" asked Ivy.

"Precisely. And in the mean time, keeping in mind that I'm speaking in hypotheticals, not in concrete terms, companies wishing to develop artificial intelligences can do so in Alliance space, under the scrutiny of the Alliance's protection and legal restrictions. The benefits can be shared by all, from economic to social."

"We will have to discuss this amongst ourselves and take a look at a more concrete proposal, of course," Su-Hyun said after a moment. "But the idea is not entirely without merit. Perhaps, continuing along this line of thinking, representatives of the Alliance and the Council- both Councils- can meet in the near future to reconsider the AI legislation based upon progress made in the intermediate time." They paused, waiting as the Councilors looked amongst themselves before nodding in unison.

"The idea sounds workable," Sparatus replied. "We'll have a concrete proposal drafted for later today or early tomorrow."

"There is, however, a condition attached to that," Su-Hyun said. "Any AIs in Citadel space who are currently free and in hiding will have the right to sanctuary in Alliance territory. That is non-negotiable."

"I don't believe there are any AIs in hidi -"

"-I don't think you understand the condition," Su-Hyun said sternly, cutting Sparatus off. "Our combined position on the matter is absolutely non-negotiable. Whether there are any AIs in hiding or not is irrelevant."

"Of course, of course," Sparatus said, raising his hands. "My apologies. I meant no offense."

"None taken, Councilor," Su-Hyun replied, nodding. "It is an important matter for the Alliance and for us," they said, gesturing to the other binary Ambassadors, "as representatives of the Alliance's binaries."

"We understand," Tevos said smoothly. "However, we did want to ask how such a condition would apply to the Geth."

"It stands," Ambassador Mazurov replied in a gravelly voice. "If the Geth choose to leave the Adas-Kaddi Veil for Alliance space, then they shall. If the quarian peoples have issue with this, we will be happy to discuss the precise terms of our condition with them."

There was a long, long pause before anybody spoke, and only after the Councilors exchanged looks with one another. "Very well," Sparatus replied slowly. "While we would like to dissuade you from that specific course of action, we are speaking in purely hypothetical terms. Nobody has even been able to speak to the geth, let alone negotiate some sort of exodus into Alliance space." He paused, then shrugged slightly. "Given that the quarians have no representative on the Citadel, any negotiations the Alliance would want to have with the quarian Admiralty would have to be set up somehow, far in advance."

"That's acceptable, Councilor, and serves as an excellent segue into a few issues we wanted to bring up," Ambassador Goyle said. "While we will be returning to Alliance space after our talks have concluded, we do intend to return to further discuss issues at a later date. The delegation that will be returning to the Citadel will necessarily be a larger one, given the broader scope of likely discussions encompassing everything from customs and trade regulations to work permits and visas. With that in mind, we've been drafting a list of items that the Alliance would like discussed during the next round of deliberations. Included on that list is some form of permanent delegation on the Citadel to ensure ease of communication."

"Something akin to a consulate?" asked Valern. "The granting of an embassy on the Citadel carries a very specific set of connotations, but I'm sure that some sort of office for the purpose of diplomatic and economic relations can be established." He looked at the other Councilors, who nodded slightly.

"Thank you," Anita Goyle replied. "We understand the question of embassies is a serious one for the Council and appreciate your assistance in the matter."

"Having brought up what will happen once we leave the Citadel," Enkhjargal, "we'd like to discuss the issue of the Alliance's borders. Have you been able to discuss the proposal we submitted yesterday?"

"We have, Ambassadors," Tevos replied. "We find the proposal acceptable, but did want to discuss the proposed crossing station. Normally we would find the concept of a border crossing on the edges of territory between spacefaring sovereign entities to be somewhat odd, but given the apparently total lack of relays in Alliance space we believe it's actually an excellent idea."

"Wonderful," Ivy said, smiling. "Part of our initial escort to the Frontier Relay and the planet of Discovery was a team charged with scouting locations best suited for permanent station construction and planetary construction."

"Ah, I'd intended to ask about that," Valern said, nodding. "We've begun drafting a team that can accompany you back to the Frontier Relay with more or less the same goal. Our hope was that the two teams would be able to collaborate on the construction, or at least the planning, of a border control station. Planning ahead now would ideally save everyone involved a good deal of trouble given current lack of official communications channels."

"That also brings up the question of communications," Sparatus continued. "The original diplomatic escort led by Spectre Kryik and Ambassador Atruus did lay out a rudimentary communication line leading from the Citadel to the Frontier Relay, this construction team would also lay out a line with extra redundancies and the like. Ideally we'd also have several spare shipments of communication buoys to give to the Systems Alliance to extend the range of the existing communication network; we can also provide the schematics to construct more networked buoys, although without element zero it's unlikely the schematics will be useful in terms of actual construction for the Alliance."

"Regardless, I'm sure the Alliance's engineers would be more than excited to have a look at the schematics," Ambassador Kufuor said. "We're also happy to hear about the construction team and our workers would be more than willing to collaborate on the construction of the control station."

"Well, I believe that covers everything in the highest priority section of the negotiations, although if any further issues arise we can always return to them," Tevos said, clasping her hands together. "Perhaps we ought to take a short break. It gives us all respective time to closely discuss issues before we continue our discussions."

* * *

 **August 10th**

Jane stretched as she got out of the C-Sec vehicle Castis was piloting and turned to face the open window. "Any word on how long 'till you're back?" Castis shrugged, then flicked through a few files on his omnitool.

"I'd say roughly an hour, but it depends how long our debrief at HQ is. I've been very clear about everyone being on time today, but, well, we'll see how that goes."

"Sounds good. Just let me know once you've rounded up your people and are on your way, and our team will meet you by the _Pacifist_ 's gangway."

"Alright. I'll be in touch," Castis said, sliding the window up. He and the other officers in the car's passenger and back seats waved as the car lifted up and drove towards one of the hangar's exit tunnels. Jane watched it go before running over to the Solar's gangway; rather than walking along its ramp, she fired her jump kit and flung herself straight to the ship's exterior airlock. A few moments later she was inside the ship, and she unsealed her helmet's faceplate and made her way towards the Solar's main elevator, greeting the various personnel she passed by. She pressed the button for the main hangar and frowned as she heard low, thumping noises as the elevator descended.

The doors opened to reveal KN in his Vanguard chassis and KH in a heavily-modified Bishamon chassis facing each other with large metal rods, engaging in a mock sword duel as the majority of the diplomatic fleet's security teams cheered and whooped from a safe distance from the tops of the various dropships and frigates anchored to the hangar floor. Jane chuckled as she left the elevator and shook her head as KH expertly dodged an overhead swing from KN, twirled around his side and jabbed KN several times in his head's sensor arrays with her pole before ducking beneath an incoming swing and kicking his legs out from under him. KN's chassis slammed into the hangar floor with a reverberating clang and he let out a loud groan as the hangar erupted into shouts and applause.

"Six-nothing for me, Kenneth," Kahlee said gleefully, her voice filling the hangar. "Come on, kid, you've got to be able to do better than that!" She extended a hand, which KN took.

"Fuck's sake, how do you keep tripping me?" Kenneth grunted as he got back to his feet and set his pole back into a open-topped shipping container. "I swear, every time I think I've got you dead on you pull off some sort of wuxia shit and knock me out."

"It's because you're crap with swords," Jane said as she joined the onlookers, grinning. "Kahlee, that was great- you're gonna have to teach us some lessons."

"Mmm," KH said as she stowed her practice rod. She looked at KN, then at Jane, then shrugged. "Too slow in general, but your bladework's sloppy. What's your preferred melee weapon?"

"Shard shotgun?"

"Don't sass me, kid."

"Shot-gauntlets, I guess."

"Mmm. Should get into the habit of practicing more regularly with a long weapon, even if you're more of a right-in-your-face sort of guy. Not saying you have to carry one with you, but you never know when it might come in handy. Jane?"

Jane stepped back and away from the gathered members of the security team and fired her jump kit, landing on KN and sitting cross-legged on top of KN's head. "Yeah, what's up?"

"You do any bladework?"

"Zaeed says I'm half-decent at knifework, and I'm good at hand-to-hand. Pretty much like KN when it comes to long weapons, though."

"Should practice with KN while you're at it. Again, not saying you ought to carry a sword with you, but it doesn't hurt. Anyways, what's up?"

Jane stood up after patting KN's head, and turned to face the crowd. "Alright people, we're meeting with Captain Vakarian in an hour or so to go over the finalized tour route. We'll be meeting, as planned, in the _Pacifist_ 's CIC. I know it's not exactly a long walk or anything, but when we get the call to head out you'd better all be ready. I don't want any of you to miss out on the briefing because you had to take a dump or something."

"We gotta dress fancy?" asked a binary soldier.

"You're fine, Zeke," Jane replied. "Combat gear's fine- probably best to stay in it anyways in case something happens. I'm not gonna stop if you want to get into your dress-ups, but I'm not bothering. Any other questions?"

"Yeah," KN said, raising a hand. "Can I stay in my Titan chassis? It's nice to be my proper height again."

"No, you may not," Jane said, smirking.

"Yes, mom," KN said, chortling.

"Well you guys are free to get back to whatever for a bit. Keep an eye on your comms, and if any of you need to reach me I'll be meeting with Pilot Anderson and grabbing some food in the mess." She watched the assembled soldiers make their way out of the hangar and towards the elevators before jumping down to the hangar floor. "Come on, Kenneth, time to join the rest of us ants on the ground." Kenneth rolled his monoeye and grumbled as he clanked off to a nearby cradle, locked himself in and went rigid; the lights on the titan chassis went out and a hatch on the cradle's bottom lit up as it hissed open, revealing his infantry-sized combat chassis. KN clambered out, flexed his limbs and walked over to Jane. The two looked up at KH, who had walked back to her cradle but was instead pulling her weapons container open.

"You not coming up with us, Kahlee?" asked Kenneth.

"Not yet," she replied, pulling a massive, well-worn gunmetal-grey case from the locker. "Going to run through a bit of practice before I downsize." She set the case down on the ground, shut the locker with a loud clang, and placed a hand on the top of the case. A series of lights lit up on the case, and there was a loud hissing noise as several latches unlocked to reveal a massive, uniformly black sword nearly fifteen feet long. The blade flared a dark blue as KH picked it up before settling back to its original black colour, now marked with a faint blue glow.

"I want one of those," Kenneth said, shaking his head as Kahlee began practicing various patterns of swings with the weapon.

"Enough gawking, KN. You can fawn over other people's weapons later," Jane said, slapping Kenneth's metal shoulder. "We've got actual work to do."

About two hours later, Castis surveyed the _Pacifist's_ CIC as the last of the Alliance's soldiers filled the room, and noted with a small note of relief that all of his chosen officers seemed to be, at least, not terribly uncomfortable at the sight of armed binaries. Some were even shaking hands, clasping arms and chatting amongst themselves. He waited until the last soldier to arrive, a light-skinned human, jogged in and found an empty spot. Satisfied, he looked at David and Jane, who both nodded back as he stepped forwards into the centre of the room.

"Thank you all for being here. For those of you who haven't met me in person, I'm Captain Castis Vakarian, Chief Diplomatic Security Officer for Citadel Security, and these are Pilots Jane Shepard, David Anderson and Titans KN and KH. Thanks to the hard work of many C-Sec personnel, some of whom are here," he said, nodding at a small group assembled near the holoboard, "we've put together a tour route that we believe satisfies the majority of, if not all of the desires of the Alliance's diplomats while maintaining proper security standards." Castis looked at David; he nodded, and David pressed a button on the side holoboard, and a three dimensional map of the Citadel appeared. "We'll start off as usual by getting in the convoy, and take the same tunnel route we normally do," he said, as the map zoomed into a view of the hangar the Alliance's ships were docked in." From there, the view shifted over to the Presidium on a landing strip located near the Citadel Tower. "We land here at the Presidium Junction's main lot, and the tour progresses down through Presidium Commons. From there we follow the Two-Seven shortcut and make our way down to the Lower Presidium, then take the first available lifts down to the upper levels of Zakera Ward. Then we make our way to the end of the Cenol Strip, re-mount the convoy here at the Zakera Landing, and then return to the Alliance's hangar."

David stepped forward as the CIC filled with low mutters and banged on the holoboard, waiting for the mutters to die off. "Everyone needs to have their heads on a swivel and to be at their best. Still, as far as escort routes go, it's not bad. Long-range sightlines are going to be an issue for the Presidium, especially out in the Commons, but once we're into Zakera proper the issue becomes an issue of corners, blind spots, et cetera. Officers, we're counting on your help and expertise to keep our diplomats safe, and I'm proud to be working alongside you. You have questions, ask them now." A binary soldier in the back of the room raised a hand, and David nodded at her. "Akua, go ahead."

"Do we have details on the exact itinerary? Just wondering if we're going to be making stops, and if so, where, so that we can prepare defensive postures just in case."

"We have a list of spots that the ambassadors have expressed interest in," Jane said, flicking through her HUD and activating several markers, resulting in about two dozen spots lighting up on the holoboard's map. "These are the locations. Most of them are stores of some sort, and there are a few restaurants mixed in. Initial reports indicate that most of them fairly simple in terms of protective posture. The ambassadors have mentioned their desire to mingle somewhat freely with the public, but there are a couple shops, such as, ah, this one here, Legacy Antiques Trading, for example, that are fairly large and have a lot of difficult-to-patrol nooks and whatnot. We'll be marking the worst offenders in terms of difficulty of protection and will be clearing civilians out before the ambassadors enter."

A batarian officer raised a hand next. "You mentioned restaurants? Are we able to ensure the safety of any food or drinks being served?

"Food safety isn't really a concern for the binary diplomats," KN said, "unless there's a cafe on the Citadel that serves, I don't know, industrial slag or something." He paused as the gathered group chuckle before cutting them off with a wave of his hand. "Still, we've done extensive checks on the planned stops, both in terms of any proof of anti-Alliance sentiment as well as general food safety. We've only had to rule out three places so far; one of those was because the cafe's owner was caught threatening people online with respect to the Alliance's presence on the Citadel, while the other two were for some pretty serious health code violations in the past few weeks."

"The diplomats also have some sophisticated detectors on-hand, but their use is left at their discretion," Jane continued. "It's an important point, though, and thank you for bringing it up. Next, the asari, yes, you there."

"How are the ambassadors being protected?"

"They've been issued some pretty high-grade kinetic barriers," Castis responded. "The binary diplomats are, from what I've been told, pretty sturdy, and with our combined security presence and the medical facilities available from both the Alliance's ships and the Citadel, it'll take some pretty serious stuff to take out the ambassadors. Still, that's not an excuse to take shortcuts or let your guard down. Ah, the binary in the back?"

"What're our rule of engagement regarding threats?"

"Try to take hostiles alive," KH said. "Of course, if someone's gunning for us or the ambassadors and your less-lethals aren't working, you're clear for kill shots. I cannot emphasize this enough, though: you need to watch your backgrounds. There are going to be a lot of civilians around and any shots fired have a serious risk of hitting a non-hostile."

"Same goes for us," Castis chimed in. "Obviously the safety of the diplomats is paramount, but I'd take the paperwork over a deceased hostile or an injured civilian over the shitstorm that'd happen if one of the ambassadors is injured, let alone killed on our watch. Anyone else?" Castis paused, and when nobody responded after a moment he nodded. "Alright. Anyone has questions, feel free to interrupt. We'll start by doing a ground-level recreation of the tour using this map, marking potential dangers or high-risk areas. If you think of anything, say so. I'd rather we sit here for the entire day and work this out instead of missing out on a potential security risk."


	18. 4-3: COME AND GO

**CHAPTER 3: "COME AND GO"  
August 12  
**  
"Escort Four in position. Block three secure."

"Security Three in position. Block two secure."

"Security Two in position. Block one secure."

"Escort Two in position. LZ secure."

"Escort One in position. Ready to receive diplomats." Jane stepped aside as the door of the black C-Sec limousine popped open and the diplomats began stepping out into the parking lot, which was entirely cleared of civilian vehicles. They were greeted by thunderous cheers from the crowds gathered beyond the parking lot's cordon, and the diplomats waved back from between the rows of Alliance soldiers and C-Sec officers between them and the crowds. "Forward units to second points as Titan KN's team takes up the rear. I'll take point."

"This is Escort Two at Felux Cafe. All patrons have been cleared by security the rest of the building has been locked down. Clear to move up."

Jane nodded as KN took up the rear with a few other soldiers and walked to the front of the group, falling into step next to a krogan C-Sec officer. He grinned at her briefly before going back to scanning the group's surroundings as they made their way past the designated protest zone (which was far emptier than the crowds that had shown up after the first few days of the Alliance's arrival) and down a long concourse leading into a cluster of shops in the heart of the Presidium.

"Pilot Shepard, it's an honour to work alongside you," the krogan said. "I'm a huge fan of your work."

Jane's HUD pinged as it tracked his IFF, listing his name and rank with a small saccade option for more information. "I'll take the compliment, Sergeant Vrokol, on the condition that at some point I get to see you with a jump kit." Her eyes flitted back and forth as her HUD zoomed in on the other side of the Presidium, tracked movements within the protest zone and monitored the group's movements. "You ever been to Felux? I've been told it's a popular stopping place for officers walking the beat around here."

"Too many times, Pilot," Vrokol replied. "More of a- two quarians, by the Avina terminal on our left, both carrying some sort of package."

"I see it." Her HUD tracked the pair who were indeed both carrying hefty boxes past an Avina terminal behind the designated protest zone, translated the text on the side of their package and tagged them, sending their information to the rest of the primary escort group. "Tracked'em. Boxes are take-out dextro meals from The Steak Well." Her HUD shifted as they walked well behind her normal field of view, extending Jane's active sight to nearly 160 degrees to her left; the pair entered what looked like a small clothing store and walked behind the counter, waving at the turian manning the cashier. "Looks like we're clear."

Vrokol shook his head. "Of course you can see behind you. Not sure why I'd think otherwise." He slowed his walking speed as he caught sight of some of the officers from Security Two's team lining the streets past the ramp the group was walking down. "Security Two, this is Escort One-Four. We have eyes on."

"All units, this is Pilot Shepard. Approaching Position Two, stand by for Phase Two."

"Anyways," Vrokol continued as the group passed by several officers standing guard outside a strip of bars and restaurants, "Felux does - what's the Alliance food thing that's like, a long, fried yellow tube? Fried, what's it, dough?"

"Charkway?"

"Kind of like a charkway, I think. Started out as a turian dish called a novia, got adapted into stuff the rest of us could eat. Crunchy, long tube-shaped thing, kind of chewy on the inside. They do a bunch of different kinds, but mostly sweet stuff. Lots of the officers like'em, Anyways, five credits, you get a cup of tuppossa, kind of like that coffee drink we had yesterday, and a novia. Cheap, filling, really bad for you."

"Cops and charkway," Jane said, shaking her head. "Everywhere you go it's cops and charkway. Lemme guess, stereotype of the common C-Sec officer: overweight, overbearing, eats too much novia and drinks a ton of tuppossa?"

"Spot on, Pilot. Me, I like a big bowl of varren stew and a cold gada - krogan drink, wakes you up real fast - in the morning and that's it until lunch. Tastes better, more filling. Better for you, too."

"Well, I'll add both of those to my ever-growing list of things to eat," Jane said as the group approached the cafe. 'Felux Orix' was inscriped on the outside of the building in turian script, and the cafe itself consisted of a long bartop, manned by several incredibly nervous baristas, as well as several dozen lounge chairs and wooden tables where a variety of patrons were excitedly waving. "All units, Phase Two. Escort One at Felux. Security One to secondary check, Escort One to defensive posture."

* * *

 _Don't fuck up. Don't fuck up. Don't fuck up oh spirits here they come._ "Hello and welcome to Felux Cafe, ambassadors," Laretia said, bowing slightly. "I'm Laretia, and these are Taerdin and Siia," she said, nodding at the salarian and quarian standing beside her. "We'll be your baristas today, and we're honoured that you've chosen Felux as your first stop for your tour. Please, have a seat," she said, gesturing to the chairs laid out by the bartop. _Oh SPIRITS I used the palavux level instead of the palavus I hope their translators don't pick that up unless that's a good thing and how do I treat the robots WAIT they don't like to be called robots._ "We have our menus up here," she said, pointing at a series of boards behind the cashier station, "but for most first-time visitors we recommend our breakfast special."

"Ahh," Ninian said, smiling. "Yes, I'd read about that, the novia and tuppossa?"

"That's correct, ah, Ambassador Ninian, correct?"

"You are indeed correct, Laretia," the binary replied with a smile.

"Well, the breakfast special comes with a novia with your choice of toppings, listed on rightmost menu, and a cup of tuppossa. The classic is a sweet paste topping for the novia and a straight cup of tuppossa to balance it out, although some people find the unsweetened tuppossa to be a tad bitter."

"I think we'll all take the classic," Irene said excitedly, "except for Ambassador Mazurov here." The large, olive-skinned human rumbled with laughter and shrugged.

"I'm afraid I've never really been a fan of sweets," Xiang Mazurov said. "But if you have anything that's more savoury, or has meat, that'd be perfect."

"Of course, Ambassador Mazurov. I have just the thing in mind," Laretia said, nodding. "We'll get to work on the food and drinks now, but if there's anything you want please don't hesitate to ask. We'll be making both the novi and the tuppossa from scratch, so it'll take a few minutes, if that's all right."

"Take your time! We've gone and interrupted how things normally go," Enkhjargal said, chuckling. "The least we can do is be patient. If it's alright," he said, addressing the patrons of the cafe, "we'll be happy to speak to you all, answer any questions you have and maybe even ask a few of our own while we wait." The cafe's patrons all looked at each other nervously for a moment before nodding or otherwise assenting, and the ambassadors moved from the bartop to a group of empty seats in the rear of the cafe. Most of the people in the cafe followed, pulling up chairs nearby, although some a few remained seated outside of the group. Laretia turned around as the ambassadors began entertaining a question from a young asari, sanitized her hands and began filling a mold with the soft pastes needed to make a fresh novia while Taerdin and Siia both crushed tupo berries and strained the resulting juices.

"Why," Taerdin whispered as quietly as he could, "do their binary ambassadors lo-"

"-now is NOT the time," Siia said, elbowing Taerdin. "We talked about this!"

"Okay, sorry," he replied, emptying his press of berry skins and refilling the chamber. "Just thought I'd make a joke, you know, lighten the mood a little? What are we gonna make Mazurov?"

Laretia's closed mold beeped as it set the paste into solid form, and she flipped the mold back open, slid the solid tube out onto the small kitchen space next to the fryers and began refilling the mold. "I was thinking the mild nessin sausage."

"Wait, what if asari spicy is, like, killer human spicy?" asked Siia. "I don't want to be known as the quarian who made the human ambassador shit himself."

"Myrest said that the ambassadors are okay! She watched a whole bunch of their shows about food and science or whatever and then she asked her friend who's got a chemistry degree. We'll be fine!"

* * *

"-and if you're interested, the volume nine of the Synthetic Integration Conference transcripts, chapters five through eight in particular, cover a lot of the thinking behind the Alliance's current and historical standpoints on binary-human marital relations. Ah, I think that will have to be the end of our discussion," Su-Hyun said, smiling.

"The food is ready," Laretia said, "but there's no rush if you'd like to continue your discussions with the other customers."

"That's alright," Irene replied. "We do have something resembling a schedule to keep, and I imagine the food tastes better hot." She turned to the gathered patrons and nodded slightly. "If you have any other questions or concerns, the communication line connecting your extranet to our frontnet should be online within the next week or so, and there will be a consulate on the Citadel in the near future. I hope that we can welcome you as guests in the Alliance once the transport network is finished, as well." The ambassadors stood up and made their way back to the main counter, where the two baristas were laying out the food; seven of the novia lay on white plates, slathered with a generous amount of red paste, while the last, leftmost novia was on a grey plate and had a small red sausage poking out of one end.

"Seven classic breakfasts and one nessin sausage," Siia said, presenting the food with a small flourish. "You can also add some sweeter to the tuppossa," she continued, pulling a small clear container filled with a blue liquid out from under the counter, "but I recommend you try it first and see how it tastes." The three baristas watched, excited, as the ambassadors all drank from their mugs and grinned to one another (Siia instead lighting up her visor) as the ambassadors looked at one another, smiling and nodding.

"It reminds me of a very, very strong tea, like a fermented black tea," Ninian said, pausing to take another long drink from her cup, "but the aftertaste is distinctly unique. The bitterness doesn't really show up until the taste just about wears off."

"And the drink is a stimulant, right?" asked Kemal Kufuor. "I'm not noticing any kick from the start, but I wonder how it compares to caffeinated beverages."

"We're not sure," Taerdin replied, "but we're all looking forward to trying out coffee and seeing what we can do with it and the other things to be commonly found in the Alliance."

"Well," Enkhjargal said, shaking his head, "I don't take my tea or coffee straight, and I imagine I'll enjoy this a lot more with some sweetener. What is it derived from?" he asked, taking the container and pouring a small amount into his hand.

"It's a diluted extract taken from the roots of an asari plant called the rassos," Laretia explained. "Technically the sweetner is called rassos sura, but most just call it rassos or root sugar." She watched as EJ tipped the liquid into his mouth, visibly swished it around his mouth and swallowed. He broke out into a grin, and happily tipped nearly a quarter of the container's contents into his mug, set it down, grabbed a small stirring stick from one of the many containers on the bartop and stirred the contents of his mug for a few seconds before drinking from it again.

"Ahh, much better. How much rassos do most people put in their tuppossa?"

Laretia blinked a few times before responding. "Uh, not that much. Usually just a few drops. Actually, most people drink it straight."

EJ scowled as the other ambassadors all began to laugh, and raised his hands dramatically. "Just because the rest of you like drinking things that taste like coffee grinds doesn't mean I have to too," he grumbled, before drinking from his mug again. "Well, how about this then?" He set down his mug and picked up his novia, taking a large bite from it, wiping off a small amount of paste stuck to his face with his finger and wiping it on a cloth next to his plate. He chewed, swallowed, and sighed contentedly.

"How is it, Ambassador?" asked Siia.

"You'd better expand your kitchens, because the second word-of-mouth spread about this the Alliance's entire population is going to be flocking here in droves," he said slowly. "I'm dead serious. It's just right - so other people will probably think it's very sweet- but the aftertaste is clean, the paste doesn't stick to the inside of your mouth and the sweetness, huh, it turns into a fruity flavour." The other ambassadors all followed suit, digging into their own food and expressing much the same sentiment. The baristas, on the other hand, were all staring nervously at Ambassador Mazurov, who was hastily polishing off his sausage novia; moments later, he wiped his hands and pushed his now-empty plate forward slightly.

"It's good," he said, after taking another drink from his mug. "The flavours are really quite excellent. Is there, by any chance, a spicier version of this on the menu?"

"Uh, uh, yes, there is," Laretia said, visibly relaxing. "We decided on a mild version since we weren't sure how asari spice levels measure up to human ones."

"Well, I'll have to try the spicier one before I leave," Xiang said with a smile. "You'd be surprised at what a human's stomach can handle," he said, chuckling as he patted his stomach.

The group continued chatting for a few minutes after they finished their meals; Ambassador Saha left the baristas with an IOU for 51 credits despite their vocal protests and rejoined their security teams outside. The group got back into formation and began to make their way down the Presidium's main street, stopping in at a wide variety of stores; by the last leg of the tour, the ambassadors had stopped at two bookstores, several clothing shops, a games retailer and six more restaurant as well as a number of cultural interest shops; the small, collapsible cart the security team had brought with them was now full of various gifts and goods. The crowds had grown even larger in Zakera Ward, and the various chants from the multiple designated protest zones were almost entirely drowned out by the cheers of the others. The ambassadors had even stopped to answer a handful of questions and sign random items before moving on.

"I don't like this," Jane said to Castis, as the group rounded another corner and began making their way down a neon-lit street in Zakera's upper levels. "Can't believe David was okay with this," she growled as their next destination's sign came into view: _Edote & Keli, Bespoke Gunsmiths, Est. 1974. _

"Hey, these two families have been making guns legitimately for longer than most of our team's been alive," Castis said, shrugging. "Spirits, if someone does try and rush the store or something I'd bet Ishera and Viiste would shoot 'em themselves."

"You're not talking behind my back, are you?" asked David over comms.

"Piss off," Jane said, smiling behind her helmet.

"You know the owners personally, Castis? Wouldn't have pegged you for someone with an interest in, ahem, bespoke gunsmithing," KN said from the group's rear.

"Hey, I like my guns," Castis replied, signalling to the officers in front of the store to take their positions. "Nothing wrong with that."

"Pilot Shepard to all units. Approaching Position One-Six-Six, stand by for Phase One-Six-Six. Escort Four, Security Four, stand by to prepare convoy for security checks and departure."

The security team took their positions as the ambassadors entered the shop, which was a small square shop, sparsely decorated with photographs of what Jane presumed were famous persons brandishing various firearms; a large sign on the wall explained that "No ammunition blocks are kept or allowed in the store; no live firearms are allowed in the store without prior arrangements." A small display case built into the counter showcased a number of handguns and rifles, and two asari in plain tunics and pants stood behind the counter. A massive krogan stood in the corner in front of a small metal gate, which itself led behind the counter and into a small hallway marked 'authorized persons only' in Thesserit.

"Ambassadors," one of the asari said with a smile, "Welcome to Edote and Keli. I'm Ishera Keli, and this is Viiste Edote. We were surprised you'd decided to come here, but are honoured to have the opportunity to present our wares to you. It would be our pleasure to have a demonstration in the small virtual range we have set up in the back."

"Pilot Anderson to all units. Titan KN's unit, as well as Sergeant Iaqua's and my own will accompany the ambassadors into the range in the rear of the shop. All other units are to maintain defensive posture." The security teams shifted around, and the ambassadors waited as the krogan in the corner unlocked the security gate and the security team followed Ishera inside; a few minutes later, Jane signaled the ambassadors that they were clear to enter. Once the ambassadors were in the rear of the store, Viiste clapped her hands together and made a soft squealing noise.

"So, uh, Castis, that's, that's a Pilot, right?"

Jane nodded, still facing the shop's entrance. "That's correct. Pilot Jane Shepard."

"Oh goddess. You wouldn't happen to be the same Pilot that, you know, caught those terrorists a few days ago?"

"Yes, that'd be me," Jane replied nonchalantly, as Viiste let out a quiet cheer and chuckle.

"Viiste, don't bother Jane while she's on duty," Castis said, shaking his head.

"You be quiet, kid. Let Auntie Viiste handle things."

"Auntie Viiste?" Jane asked, turning to look at the asari, who was grinning madly.

"Oh yes. I've known little Castie here since he was a wee boy. Did you know he used to march around the backyard singing the national an-"

"-PLEASE stop," Castis said, clearly irritated. "Please. I have a reputation to uphold," he groaned, as a bunch of the nearby officers all laughed.

"Oh, fine. In any case, Pilot Shepard, I know you probably can't tell me about that crazy sidearm of yours that shoots curving bullets, but, well, I'm sure I'll learn soon enough. No, I wanted to present a gift to you for catching those assholes, but there's no way I can get away with giving you a gun, deactivated or otherwise, so I'm gonna give it to Tibby later, once he's off duty, and he can give it to you later. Would that be alright?"

"I'd have to check with my superiors, but I think it'd be fine. There's no need to give me a gift, though," Jane said, raising her hands.

"Pssht, please, if you're not going to take it now I'm going to hold onto it until you come back to the Citadel. And then I'm going to track you down and give it to you."

Jane, Castis and Viiste spent the next thirty or so minutes discussing Jane's preferred weapons and how she'd design her preferred weapon in terms of aesthetics, with Viiste occasionally throwing in a story about taking care of Castis during his younger years or gushing over the promise of trading and comparing firearms design with the Alliance.

"-and I really, really want to take a look at your handgun. Oh, oh, I know, you're not parting with it, but would I be able to get my hands on an antique version of it? You said the technology's been around for quite some time, right?"

"Yeah. There's a non-accelerated version, back from when we were still using chemical propellants, that civilians in the Alliance can purchase. Not many left, though, since the actual antiques are highly-sought after by collectors and from what I hear, they weren't even common back in the day. Nowadays the only manufacturers producing new ones are either selling specialized versions for use by law enforcement or replicas that cost a fair bit thanks to limited demand. You'd need to be certified with an Alliance license to buy one, not to mention the hassle of import laws or whatever. Ammunition's expensive, too."

"The ammo's not an issue," Viiste said, nodding vigorously as she listened. "I just like the aesthetics of the Alliance's firearms. And I imagine Ishera and I will be taking a trip to Harmony as soon as we're allowed anyways to take a look around. Ah, but what will poor Wrexie do then?" she asked, turning to face the krogan guarding the gate.

"Don't call me that," he growled back, smirking.

"He talks! May I introduce Urdnot Wrex, provider of security and friend of the family. Perhaps you could come with us on our vacation?"

"I will if you pay me to," replied Wrex.

"Ah, don't mind him," Viiste said, waving her hands dismissively. "He's a big ol' softie, just looks dangerous."

Castis glanced at Wrex, and then looked back at Viiste skeptically.

"Okay, he's dangerous too, but that's doesn't mean he can't be a real nice guy underneath that tough-guy look he's got going on. Anyways, Jane, do you know when civilians will be allowed into the Alliance's space?"

Jane shrugged. "No clue, but I'd guess sooner rather than later." She eyed Wrex, and took note of the large, yellow firearm strapped to his back. "What's that?"

"Shotgun," Wrex said.

"What kind?"

"You're familiar with how our guns work?" asked Viiste. Jane nodded, and she gestured to Wrex's gun. "This is a graal, a type of shotgun made by a wide variety of primarily krogan manufacturers. It shoots flechettes that are massive - a big step up from what most guns fire. Wrexie here won't tell me who made his, but I'd say it's pretty old, considering how beat up it is."

"Also violates, like, six interstellar treaties on small-arms ammunition," Castis said, sighing. "But it isn't technically illegal."

"Piss off, Vakarian."

"Hey, Wrex, I'm not trying to bring you in-"

"-I'd like to see you try-"

"-I was just pointing it out so that Jane here doesn't get fined for carrying one of these in the future."

Jane shrugged. "If you ever do get cleared to work with the Alliance Armed Forces, ask around to see if you can get your hands on a shard shotgun."

"What, like in that movie? Metal Fist?" asked Wrex. "I thought it was just some stupid made-up thing for the movie."

"Yeah. Those aren't illegal, but they are expensive. I get the feeling money's not an object, though," Jane said, nodding to herself.

"Hrm. Jane Shepard, right?"

"Yeah." Wrex simply returned to staring out the entrance of the shop, but a small smile played around on his face. Jane was about to say something when her HUD lit up.

"We're done and are heading back out," KN said as his icon appeared in her HUD.

"All units, this is Pilot Shepard. Ambassadors are going to exit soon. Stand by for final phase." Jane watched as the back door opened and KN's team exited, followed by the ambassadors, and finally David's team. The group all gathered in front of the counter, and Ishera appeared a few moments later carrying a long, sealed case.

"We wanted to present a gift to you and the Alliance," Ishera said, setting the case down on the counter.

"We'll need to scan it first," David said. The two asari nodded, and both David and KN stepped forward. The two placed their hands on the case, and after a moment nodded. "Please open the box," David said. Ishera undid the latches and pulled the case open; David and KN both placed their hands on the item inside, then let one of the C-Sec officers scan it with his omnitool. "We're clear," David said, stepping back. The interior of the case was padded, and in its centre lay a long, wooden firearm with curved stock, covered in glowing blue engravings. There were several pieces on the firearm that Jane guessed were something like a hammer and some sort of firing system made out of a transparent, glass-like substance, and the barrel of the gun was wrapped in a red cloth of some sort.

"A yakshal," Viiste said, as both asari bowed. "A replica weapon, patterned after those from the earliest days of asari firearm development. When we heard that ambassadors from the Alliance wanted to make a stop here of all places, we both got to work on this yakshal. We hope the Alliance will accept the gift in the spirit of interspecies and intergalactic cooperation."

"We accept the gift," Irene said, shaking hands with the two asari. "It's beautiful."

"We've enclosed a small OSD containing a bit of historical background about the yakshal; how it would be used and what the engravings mean," explained Ishera as she gestured to a small, black OSD tucked into a small indentation next to the gun."

"Thank you very much," said Su-Hyun, bowing slightly. "On behalf of the Alliance, thank you. It's been a pleasure visiting and I'm sure that I and many others will be sure to visit when we're on the Citadel again."

David watched as the two asari shut the case and slid it forward; he took it, nodded and made his way to the front of the shop where the cart the team had brought with them was stationed, and placed it inside next to the small mountain of assorted gifts and items the ambassadors had either received or purchased. "Pilot Anderson to all units, ambassadors are leaving. Final phase, let's move."

Jane shook hands with Ishera and Viiste, and stopped as Wrex turned from staring out the entrance to face her.

"Shepard."

"Wrex."

* * *

 **August 14  
**  
"Oh, for fuck's sake. What exactly are you even trying to do?" Nihlus picked up the small carbine, some sort of off-brand copy of an Elkoss Stinger which itself was already a below-budget weapon designed (if Nihlus remembered the advertisement correctly) for cheap plinking. "Seriously," he said, tossing the carbine over to Larix, who caught the weapon and placed it into a hard case. "Look, I get it. Robots are scary, humans eat children, whatever. So, AFTER they've all packed up to home, you decide you're going to take that thing over there," he continued, pointing at the firearm, "and, what, shoot at their ships?"

"You don't understand!" shouted the salarian, struggling against the restraints locked around his arms and legs. "Haven't you read the reports? Artificial Intelligences WILL destroy organic life! It's not a possibility, it's a guaranteed fa-"

He was cut off as Itok clamped a hand over the would-be shooter's mouth. "Holy fuck, can you shut up? Dude, have you SEEN the Alliance? They marry robots. Their robots shit like we do, just because they thought that'd make them more organic. Think about that, man." Itok took his hand off, and the Salarian glared at Itok, but said nothing.

"Seriously. Let's assume you took a few potshots at their ships," Nihlus said, squatting down next to the salarian. "What's your name, pal?"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"Alright, shit-for-brains, you fire a couple shots at their ship. What then? If you were lucky, one of their Pilots would have LITERALLY FLOWN out here and broken you with their bare hands, also literally. If not, they'd have sent a less experienced grunt or just fired up a turret, and you'd be dead. We're doing you a favour, you idiot. How old are you?"

"I don't have to tel-"

"-HOW OLD ARE YOU, SHIT FOR BRAINS?" screamed Nihlus, in the best imitation of his drill instructor from back during his service.

"THIRTEEN!"

"You've got like, half your life ahead of you, and you were going to toss it away because, what, the Alliance scares you?"

"YES!"

Nihlus sighed. "Look. You don't like the Alliance. Lots of people don't. They protested peacefully, went home and got on with their lives. Now you're going to have a criminal record, possible jail time, and for what?" The salarian said nothing, but his expression grew more pensive than angry. "I'm not paid to play counsellor, but next time maybe you ought to think things through a little."

The salarian opened his mouth, but closed it without saying anything.

"Whatever. Itok, Valtha, throw him in the back." The salarian remained silent as Valtha and Itok walked him over to the back of Nihlus' Economy Ten and opened the trunk; the salarian yelped as he noticed the four others crammed into the trunk.

"Get in," Valtha said. The salarian hesitated for a moment before Valtha simply picked him up and tossed him inside before shutting the hatch. "Alright, boss, we doing another run?"

Nihlus watched from their spot in the parking lot as the last of the Alliance's ships completed their undocking and began to fly out of the hangar. "No point. Anyone who tries to play terrorist now is late to the party. Let's just get these idiots over to Castis and call it a day." He sighed, rubbing his head. "Haven't had a break since the Alliance showed up. Spirits, I need two, no, three drinks and an entire day to sleep in." He helped Larix load the case into the car's storage compartment, got into the car, buckled himself into the passenger seat and waited for Itok to start the car. "You know what? I'm taking a nap. Wake me up when we're at the C-Sec office."

"Will do, boss," Itok replied as the car took off. Nihlus shut his eyes, and opened them again to see Itok prodding him. "Oi, wake up, Nihlus."

"Fucking...already?" Nihlus groaned, unbuckled himself and looked out the window to see that they were indeed already in the visitor's parking lot of the central C-Sec branch. "Alright, gimme a second." He got out of the car, stretched his arms, and joined Larix as Itok and Valtha leaned out the driver-side windows.

"We'll wait here, Nihlus," Valtha said. "Go fetch Castis, will ya?"

Nihlus grunted in assent and made his way out of the lot and into the police station; the receptionist, an asari officer, waved when she noticed the two turians entering. "Spectre Nihlus, Larix! Got more, ah, gifts for us?"

"You got it," Larix replied, grinning.

"I know the drill. Captain Vakarian'll be out in a minute with the usual crew and cart."

"Thanks," Nihlus said, returning to his car. Several minutes later, Castis and a small group of officers appeared; they exchanged greetings with Nihlus and his crew, and escorted their prisoners and their cart of gear back into the precinct. "So, Castis, you up for some catching up later tonight?"

"Yeah, tonight's good," Castis said, leaning against a nearby pillar. "Spirits, I need a, no, two drinks." Larix, Itok and Valtha all laughed, and Castis' mandibles twitched. "What? Did I say something?"

"Forget them," Nihlus said, groaning. "I gotta go report in at the Spectre Office, but that's all I've got planned for the next while. Meet us around, say, seven?"

"Sure thing- it's been a while, anyways. Where do you wanna go?" Castis watched as Nihlus' omnitool flared to life, and Castis checked his own omnitool as it beeped with a message containing map directions.

"Zakera, Mid-Ward. You walk down to block 184-3, then when you see Ahsha's - you know, the asari barbeque place - you take a left down the first corridor from the sign, and you'll see a door with a drawing of a krogan with an eyepatch."

"Uh, there's nothing there. That's an alley for garbage storage and whatnot."

"Best-kept secret on the Citadel, Captain," Larix chimed in. "Trust us- it's good."

"Well, I guess," Castis said, rubbing at his fringe. "Anyways, I gotta get back to the report I'm writing if I want to meet you guys tonight. I'll see you in a bit!"

Later that evening, Castis followed the directions Nihlus had given him, and indeed found himself in a back alley standing next to a dumpster and in front of a door with a crudely-drawn eyepatch-wearing krogan. Castis looked around, sighed, and knocked on the door. "Uh, hello?"

There was no response for a moment before a speaker next to the door crackled. "Sorry," a raspy krogan voice said, "we're full tonight."

"I, uh, what? I'm, uh, meeting someone." There was no response for a moment before he heard an odd, thumping sound, and a quarian voice in the background.

"Let him in, you asshole!"

"Get off me, Raetor, or I'll break you in half!" There was another thumping sound, and the speaker went silent again for a second before chiming again. "Door's open, get in." The doors beeped and Castis heard the sounds of locks being disengaged as it slid open, revealing a dimly-lit and rather small drinking establishment consisting of little more than a bartop with a dozen or so stools and a few lounge chairs. Other than Nihlus' crew, a few other people, most wearing armour, Castis noted, were sitting in the lounge chairs chatting amongst themselves. Castis stepped inside, and was greeted by Nihlus, who waved at him fron the counter.

"Welcome," Nihlus said as Castis sat down on one of the heavily-cushioned stools, "to Gurdok's Watering Hole of Ill-Repute."

Castis looked at Nihlus, then at Nihlus' crew, then at the one-eyed krogan staring at him from behind the counter. "What?" The krogan bartender sighed, and sat down on a well-worn chair.

"Used to be a merc, got picked up by a salarian Spectre a while back. Salarian died of old age, I got shot in the eye and figured it was time to retire. Opened this tiny place, and it's been a regular haunt of Spectres, their crews and a bunch of other random folk like diplomats and authors or whatever ever since. Also, I'm Gurdok. That's my story and don't ask me again."

"Uh, sure," Castis said. "The place actually called, you know-"

"-no, it's not," Gurdok growled. "Officially licensed as 'A Drinking Establishment in Zakera,' but somehow the other name got thrown around enough to be popular. Unfortunately."

"Well, I can't say I'd have ever found out about this place if it wasn't for Nihlus,"Castis said, nodding slowly. "But I suppose you like it that way." Gurdok grunted, and slid a well-worn dataslate over to Castis.

"Menu's on there, although if you tell me what you like I can mix just about anything up for you," Gurdok said, gesturing to the impressive array of taps and bottles behind the counter. "No food, but if you're hungry we have bar snacks and I've got a deal where Ahsha's folks will run some stuff over for no extra cost." Castis skimmed the menu, which was divided into spirits, cocktails, beer, wine and 'other' alcoholic beverages, with a small non-alcoholic section on its own page. He tabbed over to the cocktail section and felt his stomach drop as he caught sight of the very first item.

 _Fistfight_ , Castis read. _Two shots Blue Rose kaessa, two shots Relay Trail black rassos liqueur, one shot home-brewed okeda, one can of Malurum Gold Cider. Stirred, served with ice. 105 credits._

"Spirits that's expensive," Castis said, shaking his head.

"You're that C-Sec guy that was with the diplomats, right? Don't worry about paying. Drinks are on the house for at least a while," Gurdok grunted. "Going after those terrorist shitbags is worth a couple thousand credits in my book at the very least."

"I mean, I can pay for it-"

"-I insist," Gurdok said, leaning forward to be inches from Castis' face.

"Okay, okay, got it." Castis skimmed though the different menus and ultimately settled on a drink. "Uh, I'll have the Fugitive, please." Gurdok simply grunted and stood up, stretched his hands and got to work. "Anyways, I've met Nihlus, Itok and Larix- what about the rest of you?"

"Right, right," Nihlus said. "These are Ultina, Valtha and Raetor," he said, gesturing to a female turian, asari and a male quarian who were sitting with their group at the bar. "They've been helping with the surveillance side of our little anti-terror operations for the past week or so and are part of my crew." They all introduced themselves, reaching across the bar to lightly clasp arms with Castis.

"So? What's your plan," asked Ultina, "now that the Alliance is out of here? You have any vacation time before getting back to work?"

"Not quite yet," Castis replied. "I'm on the clock for at least another two weeks, save weekends, since there's a lot of debriefing and reports to be done, as well as investigations into all of the terror attacks, attempted or otherwise, to be worked on. Executor Pallin promises me that once that's done I get at least a month off before I'm on duty again, which works out well- my wife's been busy with work on Illium, but once we're both free we might head back to Palaven for a bit for a vacation."

"Palaven. Spirits, I haven't been back for years," Nihlus said, shaking his head. "Anyways, Spectres don't really have defined work times, but really I'd like to go visit the Alliance."

"Yeah, all the non-dextro officers told me the food they made for us during our debriefing was really good," Castis said, nodding. "Still, we'd have to bring along our own food, and I'm not sure how that'd work out. I'd really rather not go back to the days of eating ration packs."

"Well, I'm sure once travel restrictions are lifted there'll be no shortage of folks wanting to cash in on us dextro tourists," Raetor said, leaning back in his chair.

"Uh, right. Sorry, no offense meant, but I didn't think a quarian would be excited about going to Alliance territory," Castis said quietly. Raetor simply sighed and shook his head.

"I'm working on it," he said after a moment of silence. He gestured to a small holographic keyboard displayed over a dataslate in front of him. "Lot of complicated feelings about it, but, well, I've been trying to figure it out. I'm still nervous around their robo- binaries, sorry, but, well, the Alliance has had them for hundreds of years and they're not all dead or anything." He sighed again and took a long drink from his cup's straw. "Been writing up an editorial that I'm hoping to circulate, primarily for the benefit of people who were or still are worried by the whole binary thing." He shrugged, and took another drink. "Who knows? I'm sure both sides have a lot to learn from each other."

"Fuck, man, you wanna get any heavier?" asked Itok, playfully punching Raetor in the arm.

"Let's talk about my parental issues!" Raetor said, laughing, as he punched Itok back.

"Fuck off!" Itok leapt from his stool and jumped on Raetor's back, who laughed as he tried to shake him off.

"No void-damned fighting in my fucking bar!" Gurdok slammed a fist on his bartop, and Itok got off.

"Sorry, Gurdok."

"You know the rules, you little shit!"

"I was just joking around, man. No need to get all mad." Itok grinned at the assembled patrons at the bartop as Gurdok grumbled and turned around.

"One Fugitive for you," he said, presenting Castis with a smoky glass garnished with a rassos stick, which clinked as the ice inside floated in a brown liquid. He took a long sip, and set the glass down.

"That's...really good. Incredibly good." Castis picked up the glass, and took another drink before setting it down. "Seriously, I've never seen anything like this before- you could make it big with this."

"These suckers," Gurdok said, gesturing to the bar's patrons, "pay me plenty to do what I love doing. I've already made it big," he said, grinning.

"Ah, 'cause you're fat from sitting down all day, old man," Larix said, grinning.

"Oh, don't you start, pal," Gurdok shot back, scowling. "Your tab's getting long, Larix! Don't make me cut you off!"

The group laughed, and continued chatting; as the evening grew later, several more Spectres and a few others entered the bar, though Castis recognized none of them until it was nearly eleven. The console by Gurdok's chair beeped, signalling a new arrival, and Gurdok pounded on the table to be heard over the now much louder chattering going on in the bar. "Hey! Everyone shut the fuck up for a second!" He hit the button. "Sorry, we're full for the evening," he said. He paused as the person responded into his earpiece, and he sighed. "Sorry, you know how it works, Jalina. I'll let you in."

Nihlus nearly fell out of his chair in surprise.


	19. 4-3: INTERLUDE - AN ASARI

From: Citadel Plus Networking Services  
To: L.T'soni

Dear Liara T'Soni,

We at Citadel Plus Networking Services are proud to announce that we're amongst the first extranet providers able to offer access to the System Alliance's Frontier Network. Your current subscription service, the Maximum Priority Experience (Academic) was advertised as having the fastest and most unrestricted access available to you, and we think you'll agree that our original description still holds up. We're happy to say that your current subscription service now includes the best possible access to the Alliance's FrontNet that we can offer at this time, and CPNS will be working to improve the speed and overall quality of this new, exciting connection as opportunities become available.

To reflect this change, your monthly fee is being increased from 75 credits to 115. That's the lowest price increase out of all of the Frontier Network providers in Citadel space at this time, and rest assured we'll be doing our best to search for ways to lower that cost for you!

If you'd like to cancel your new FrontNet access, or would otherwise like to modify your current subscription service, please do not hesitate to contact any of our customer service representatives. You may also change your services at the CPNS MyAccount Portal at any time.

Attached to this message is a primer to the Frontier Network provided by the Systems Alliance.

* * *

 **The Frontier Network: A Primer [version 1.0]**

 _To the many peoples of the Citadel and the galaxy as a whole:_

It is our honour to present this guide to the Frontier's equivalent to the extranet. We hope that the exchange of information and ideas over our newly-shared networks will promote all the cultures involved, in the spirit of jolly cooperation and mutual friendship.

Within this guide, you will find a general history of the Frontier Network, followed by a basic list of FrontNet sites that cover a wide range of topics and interests. These sites were chosen with input from all throughout the Alliance, and many are "hub" sites which provide easy access to further information on a given subject.

This primer is by no means a comprehensive guide, and we welcome input from anyone, anywhere, who has suggestions about sites to add to our primer is more than welcome to contact us.

We hope you enjoy this primer and look forward to a future alongside our new interstellar neighbours.

\- Jalmari Wong & FJ-1A0K3P (Fujiwara), Co-Ministers of Interstellar Networking & Communications

 **Table of Contents:  
**  
1\. History of the Frontier Network  
2\. Your First Stops on the FrontNet  
3\. General Reference  
4\. History of the Systems Alliance  
5\. Planets and Places  
6\. Mathematics  
7\. Philosophy and Religion  
8\. Sciences (Natural, Physical)  
9\. Sciences (Social, Political)  
10\. Sciences (Technology)  
11\. Culture I  
12\. Culture II  
13\. Entertainment

[Recent Search Terminal]  
Prothean (No results found)  
Element Zero (No results found)  
Faster-Than-Light History  
Artifact  
Ark Artifact  
Precursors  
Typhon  
Fold Artifact  
Fold Anomaly  
Temporal Anomaly (No results found)  
Jack Cooper (Pilot)  
Jump Kit  
Pilot  
Public list of Pilot Cadres  
Cooper's Riflemen (Cadre)  
List of Historical Figures (Category Page)  
MJ-OF0E62R (Medjine)  
Binaries  
Binary History  
Synthetic Taste Receptor (Binary Technology)  
Binary-Human Relations  
Binary-Human Marital Relations

* * *

"Sprits, Liara. You look awful."

Liara groaned and planted her head firmly against the table, doing her best to drown out the noise of the cafe's other patrons. "Didn't sleep much last night," she grumbled. "Alliance's net has this thing called the NexusPedia- it's basically just our Citadel Hub site, right? Gaius, I spent eighteen hours on there yesterday. Straight."

The turian sat down across from her, and handed her a mug. "Tuppossa. Drink up." He watched as Liara snatched it, sat up, and drained the entire mug in a long gulp. "Well, your grant proposal's not until, what, next week? Plenty of time to catch up on some rest."

"Maybe not," Liara said, shrugging. "I might edit it. Did you know the Alliance has their own sort of equivalent to the Prothean civilization?"

"Wait, what? No, it's the first I've heard of it," Gaius replied. "I mean, now that I think about it, I suppose that would explain the lack of relays in Alliance space. Maybe the Protheans and the Alliance's old alien folks were enemies or something?"

"It's all guesses at this point, but it does raise a lot of questions, right? I was thinking of changing my grant request slightly, to work with the Alliance to look for Prothean relics in their territory, and while we're at it, maybe looking for artifacts left by their Precursors."

Gaius looked thoughtful for a moment. "Huh. Normally I'd say you'd be out of your mind, but with things the way they are, I bet it'd work. First of the Citadel's archaeologists in Alliance space- that'd be quite the achievement, eh?"


	20. ARC 5 - SEEKER & HUNTER: ARRIVAL

**ARC V: SEEKER/HUNTER  
CHAPTER ONE: "ARRIVAL"  
November 9th  
462 Freeport  
**  
"Hello again, this is your captain speaking," came the turian voice over the ship's intercom. "We've just arrived at the Frontier Relay; if you look outside you'll see the planet Discovery and Unity Station. We'll be beginning docking procedures shortly; cabin crew to arrival prep."

Jalina's eyes widened as she caught sight of the view from her window seat. While Discovery remained an unassuming grey-brown planet, the newly-constructed Unity Station was a sight to behold even if from a classically asari aesthetic, the station was something of a designer's nightmare. From what she'd heard, the station had taken less than a week to plan; time-dilated binaries would rapidly prototype and modify a design, the Citadel's architectural and construction teams would suggest their changes, and so on until they'd finally settled on a design that was meant to evoke a marriage of Citadel and Alliance. The end result was a decidedly odd-looking station, resembling a semi-circular disk with several curved protrusions jutting out of it at regular intervals. A few of the station's hangar bays were open, revealing a smattering of ships of Citadel origin; the rest of the ships in sight, docked or on patrol, were mostly the boxy behemoths of the Alliance's fleet, with a much smaller group of the Citadel's Patrol Fleet scattered around the area. The lounge she and the other diplomats were seated in erupted with fiercely muted discussion and excitement as the ship began its docking procedures, slowly making its way towards an open hangar set into the side of the station. The inside of the hangar was nothing like the _Vanguard_ ; the interior was richly decorated with various murals, and holoboards on the walls displayed video of various humans and binaries greeting the new arrivals. The ship landed with a soft thud followed by a clicking noise as the station's docking clamps engaged and the hangar doors sealed behind the ship.

"This is your captain speaking; we've landed and are preparing for disembarking procedures. Diplomats and VIPs from deck two will be disembarking first, followed by general passengers by deck and section. Please ensure that you have all of your belongings before disembarking and be sure to follow all instructions given to you by cabin crew and station personnel. Thank you for flying with Relay Express and we hope you had a pleasant flight."

Jalina and the other VIPs left the ship in short order, exiting into the hangar where a crowd of various officials and security officers were waiting. A binary in a humanoid chassis waved the group over, and gestured towards a corridor around a corner. "This way," the binary said with a small flourish. "You'll have to go through security - a formality, and a chance for our new staff to put their training to use - and then you'll have about two hours before the shuttle ship to Harmony leaves."

The security room that lay beyond the corner was distressingly mundane compared to the rest of the station, consisting of little more than the standard sorts of gates and scanners present in virtually every station in the galaxy. There were a few items and security scanners she didn't recognize, presumably of Alliance origin, but their function was clear. The lineup moved briskly as each diplomat's information was verified by two sets of security officers, one from Citadel space and one from the Alliance, and after filling out two short customs forms the group moved on to a massive lounge. A human wearing a tan uniform waved the diplomats and VIPs over as they exited the security checkpoint. "Honoured guests, there are refreshments and a lounge area over near the departure gate, as well as rest pods if you'd like to take a quick nap," he explained. "If you'd prefer a sit-down meal there is a cafe past the mural on the left; high-speed network terminals are liberally available for your use as well. Dextro food is available, and if you have any other questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask any of the station's staff." Ultimately, Jalina settled on a small sandwich and a coffee at the small cafe, taking care to record her thoughts on the food before finishing it. She spent the next hour and a half looking up places to visit during her free time on Harmony and chatting with the various diplomats and persons in the lounge. She was midst-conversation when a turian voice spoke over a loudspeaker.

"Unity Station's first outbound shuttle for Harmony will be moving to docking bay one momentarily; if you watch out of the gate now you'll see the ship."

Jalina simply shook her head in awe as a truly massive ship, at least as large as the _Vanguard_ , floated up into view of the lounge's windows. _Navigator_ was emblazoned on the side of the ship, which was a silver craft with streaks of bright blue criss-crossing the exterior. The group boarded the craft in short order and were greeted at the end of the boarding tube by a small crowd of staff who proceeded to usher the group past several rooms and into a small auditorium. Jalina sat down next to a group of ambassadors from Palaven she'd spoken to previously and shrugged as one of them leaned over.

"Spirits," Antillia said, "safety presentations? You'd think they'd let us just read a brochure or something."

"I dunno," interjected Plinaria. "I mean, have you seen the size of the Alliance's ships? They're huge, and they don't use mass relays- maybe their engines have a bunch of hazards involved or something."

The group waited for a few minutes before two uniformed binaries walked to the front of the auditorium, carrying with them a small bag each. One walked over to a podium and waved at the seated crowd. "Ah, your attention, please," they said in a practiced tone as a holographic display of the ship appeared by the stage. "Welcome aboard the _Navigator_. My name is BS-3E0F9N2REOP, and this is my assistant, EO-2QONR3LKOV; we also go by Baatarsaikhan and Eolande. We'll be walking you through the ship's amenities and safety procedures. Firstly, the _Navigator_ is an Ariake Shipyards E66, a long-haul, luxury transportation ship designed with comfort and safety in mind," Baatarsaikhan said, as the display showed an exploded view of the ship's interior. "Our trip is estimated to take 6 days; during that time, we hope you'll find the ship's many comforts to your liking. There are seventeen decks; decks one through five and deck seventeen are restricted to authorized personnel only. Decks six, seven and eight contain the passenger quarters, and your suites can be located on deck seven. Decks nine and ten contain a wide variety of restaurants and vendors selling food from all over the Systems Alliance; regretfully our available dextro-safe foods are no doubt well below our usual standard but we hope you will find them acceptable nonetheless. The other decks contain everything from pools and spas to simulators and lounges. Sadly, full use of our simulation library will not be possible because of your lack of dataports, but we hope you'll find the scenarios available to be a unique and enjoyable experience. A full list of available services and goods can be downloaded to your omnitools from any of the public terminals aboard the ship, and if you ever have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask anyone of the ship's staff. All prices aboard the _Navigator_ are listed in Citadel Credits." Baatarsaikhan nodded at Eolande, who smiled and turned to the crowd.

"Hi there! Like Baatarsaikhan said, my name's Eolande," the binary said in a cheery voice. "I'll be walking you through the safety procedures of this craft. Accidents aboard Alliance ships are a near-impossible occurrence due to the incredible number of safety features built into our crafts, but it never hurts to be prepared. Many will no doubt be familiar to you due to their similarity to standard Citadel safety procedures, but I hope you'll bear with me as I review them. In the case of artificial gravity failure.."

Jalina listened closely as Eolande went over everything from safety-clips built into the walls at standard intervals to fire suppression systems and lifeboats. She was on the verge of daring to pay less attention when Eolande's tone switched from 'cheery-flight-attendant' to deadly serious.

"Now, in rare cases, catastrophic engine failure can cause both physical and temporal anomalies which can be life-threatening," Eolande said, as Baatarsaikhan nodded gravely.

The room's respectful whispering exploded into wild shouting.

* * *

 **November 15**

The ship was due to arrive the next morning, and as Jalina lay in the oversized sleeping pod which was as comfortable as anything she'd ever laid in, Jalina was unable to sleep. Despite several luxurious meals, a number of simulator 'rides' and a good deal of incredibly wonderful pampering, she still couldn't quite shake a continued sense of mild frustration and extreme unease.

The frustration was explained mainly by the restraint she'd been forced to show in the simulators; even without one of the Alliance's dataports, the _Navigator_ 's sim library had no shortage of combat scenarios, and even had a physical weapons range with deactivated weapons from throughout the Alliance's history, modified to simulate working models. She'd managed to get away with some fun, explaining it as having spent a few of her wilder years in her youth as a mercenary, but even then she'd had to hold herself back. The unease was even easier to explain. It had started with the revelation that the Ark Engines used by nearly every Alliance ship apparently had the ability to cause "space-time fractures in otherwise temporally-stable areas," as Eorlande had put it. That alone had staggering implications, and the apparent comfort the two binaries charged with educating the diplomats had in explaining the issue, as if it were like any other sort of regular shipboard emergency, had resulted in every carefully-honed instinct of hers screaming at her to first reject the idea as some sort of ridiculous joke and second to run from the ship (and the Alliance) screaming. That had been bad enough, but then a frontnet video had began circulating amongst the ship's passengers. As far as she was aware, one of the civilians was a researcher on the (up until now, anyway) theoretical sciences regarding time and its mechanics, and following the revelation that the Systems Alliance was experienced enough with temporal anomalies to consider it a normal part of standard ship safety she had dove into research on the Alliance's frontnet. Most of what Josa'Mume had found was well beyond Jalina's comprehension, but Jalina was all too capable of understanding the video entitled "Footage of workplace accident: unprotected human-anomaly interaction) [WARNING: GRAPHIC]" that the quarian woman had nervously shared with a few others after a simulated sports event.

The video took place in some sort of factory near where the building's Ark Generator was placed, while the footage itself began normally. The bland, unassuming corridor depicted in the video remained normal for the first fifteen seconds, before alarms began to blare; shortly after, a bizarre sphere of space warped, for lack of a better word, in the corridor. The camera's footage clearly showed that the alarm lights visible within the sphere's space were _not_ going off, and several maintenance workers could be seen walking through the sphere's space as if it were a nested camera feed. Then, some poor human worker stumbled into the camera's field of view, presumably sprinting towards the generator room before rushing headlong towards the anomaly. Too late to stop himself, the worker skidded on his feet and tripped, landing on his wrist, which visibly bent out of shape slightly. The worker swore and began to shout frantically as his wrist, which was only mildly injured, began to bend as if the motion of the injury was repeating itself. The breaking motion began to occur faster and faster as the worker howled and cried, and Jalina could only watch in horrified fascination as the man's entire arm began to bend and fracture as though some violent wave forced the man's arm to twist, break and split over and over. The 'wave' moved slowly up towards the worker's body, and the small amounts of blood that had been oozing from the fractures didn't fall to the floor. Instead, they burst and seemingly multiplied into physics-defying clouds of red fluid which undulated and occasionally shot towards a random direction before stopping, still mid-air, with just as little warning. The video mercifully ended shortly before the breaking waves of snapping bone and incredible, unnatural sprays of blood could make it past the man's shoulder, but the implied fate of the poor victim - and the implications of the anomaly - were enough to make Jalina's battle-hardened nerves twinge in a sort of combined terror and existential dread at such a casual violation of reality's basic rules.

Jalina had seen fellow operatives die in ways that she was sure would make even the most veteran Spectres react with horror and disgust; she had carried out duties that were the stuff of nightmares, and slept easily nowadays.

And yet, this was somehow different.

That night, when she finally fell asleep, she dreamt of vast, unknowable Alliance ships which flew like birds and screamed endlessly into the vacuum of space as planets and stars and stations twisted, bled and cracked.

* * *

"Jalina."

"Jalina!"

Jalina snapped to attention to see Nihlus waving a hand in front of her face.

"Spirits, you look awful. Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm alright. Just had a hard time falling asleep last night."

"Yeah, the crew and I didn't see you at the usual dessert place you've been hanging out at, and you weren't answering your omni. Something happen?"

Jalina glanced out the window she'd been staring out of before sighing and sitting down on a nearby chair. "I'm thankful. Really thankful."

"Huh?"

"I'm glad negotiations went well with the Alliance."

"What? I mean, yeah, me too," Nihlus said, clearly confused.

"You, you didn't happen to see that video? The one with the temporal anomaly and the worker who gets killed by it?"

"Oh, yeah, Itok said some quarian scientist found it on the frontnet and passed it around. That was really gross."

"I was just, well, thinking about its implications."

Nihlus shrugged and made a non-committal noise. "I mean, it's creepy as hell, but the Alliance people seem to be pretty okay with the whole situation. Their advice is pretty simple, too - 'don't touch the holes in the fabric of reality' is pretty obvious, I'd think."

"You're, ah, taking this very well."

"I mean, the Alliance doesn't seem to worry about it, and I'm no scientist. If it's my time to go, it's my time to go, anyway. Shoulda seen Itok, though, he was screaming his head off about how he totally called this or something. Last I saw he was drinking. A lot. For breakfast."

"I suppose there's something to that line of thinking," Jalina said, nodding slowly. She looked back out of the window at the stars beyond, and said nothing for a long while before taking a deep breath. "Well, I'd imagine it's far healthier - and worth trying - your way of dealing with this. Perhaps a few slices of pie would help."

"Can't wait for the Alliance to get on board with the whole dextro thing," grumbled Nihlus as Jalina got up. "Packed food isn't bad or anything, but man, I really want to try, what's it called, pizza? That stuff smelled really good," he said, staring longingly off into space.

"Oh, it's very good," Jalina said, grinning. "The taste - oh, you wouldn't believe how-"

"-come on, really? Rub it in, why don't you."

* * *

 **November 16**

"This is Captain Moretta speaking. We'll be undergoing our last jump shortly; it's a small one, but as usual please be sure to stow any loose items, seal any liquid containers and ensure that you're either clipped to a safety line or buckled into a seat. All personnel, stand by for FTL in five minutes."

"FTL drive engaging. Stand by for jump in three, two, one."

Jalina braced herself for the uncomfortable sensation that accompanied every jump the ship made, and indeed was greeted moments later by the strange pull on her body from every angle and, worst of all, that bizarre, seemingly unending screech that she still hadn't quite gotten used to. One of the ship's staff had helpfully informed her that objectively speaking the jump itself only took a couple of seconds, and that the discomfort was just that- discomfort. Despite the reassuring tone of the binary, Jalina still didn't quite feel at ease. Thankfully, after what felt like much, much more than "a couple of seconds," the screeching sounds stopped and the discomfort stopped as the ship's new location popped into view beyond the windows. The Navigator was some distance away from a vibrant blue-green planet which resembled any number of habitable planets in Citadel Space, and from her window seat long, snaking lines of ships ranging from small civilian craft to other massive transport ships made their way past traffic control stations and either into the planet's atmosphere or towards one of the hundreds of docking stations in Harmony's general vicinity.

"To our esteemed guests, welcome to the planet of Harmony," Captain Moretta said over the intercom with a warm voice. "We've already been pre-cleared by the travel authorities and thus will be proceeding directly to a docking station. From there, you'll be transferring off-ship to take a shuttle down to Harmony's surface." Several ships marked with the Systems Alliance Armed Forces' emblem, a white human skull with a knife in its teeth, took up positions next to the Navigator, and as the Navigator and its escort neared the regular traffic lanes around the planet, Jalina noticed that almost every ship in sight had some sort of greeting or welcoming message on display, whether painted on the sides of hulls or displayed from deployed projectors. Jalina smiled as she read each messaged as it passed by, stopping to snort and chuckle as one of the salarian ambassadors pointed out a message that was in the process of hastily being pushed out of view by a government ship.  
 _  
3 Welcome to Harmony! Careful of Saint Hathaway's at 34-91 Block, Guilin Street. Their food is great but it'll give you the runs. InfinityJaw on XOP, Firelink and Unison Street for all the best food info 3_

Ultimately the docking procedures took another twenty or so minutes, and as before the diplomats and other VIPs were allowed to exit the ship first. There was little time spent within the docking station, and in short order the group was moved into a hangar full of small shuttles. The diplomats were the first to leave, though the civilian tourists began entering shuttles of their own as shuttle the diplomats were in retracted its docking clamps and began its journey to the planet's surface. With a cleared path straight from the hangar to Harmony, the shuttle entered atmosphere within a few minutes of clearing the station and broke through cloud cover moments later. Jalina hadn't managed to score a window seat, but even without an optimal view she could see the surface beneath; the ship was above a massive, sprawling city which stretched at least as far as she could see. As the ship descended details popped into view: endless, gleaming rows of structures laid out in neat grids with plenty of green space and what looked like several canals or rivers snaking through the city. Crowds of civilians standing outside the spaceport became visible as the ship entered the airspace around a gargantuan spaceport, and as the ship touched down the crowds visibly erupted in excitement. The shuttle taxied over to a nearby hangar and the instant the ship's airlock seals disengaged the sounds of distant cheering filtered into the cabin. Once they were off the ship and in the hangar proper, the noises grew into a dull roar as the hangar doors closed behind the ship, and Jalina couldn't help but smile slightly as she heard the cheers. The interior of the spaceport was a blending of sleek metal and wood accents that reminded her of a design style that had been popular during her youth, and as the group was escorted to a room housing several automated baggage sorters she felt for a moment as though she were eight years old and visiting a spaceport for the very first time. Still smiling, she stepped forward to take her suitcase and stopped as she felt a peculiar sensation; she snapped her head around and scanned the room as every instinct screamed at her that she should prepare for a close-quarters fight with multiple hostiles.

Despite her old reflexes telling her to get into cover and prepare for combat, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary appeared, although Jalina noticed that several diplomats - ones she knew or was almost certain had combat experience - were also subtly scanning the room. Some of the turian diplomats even reached for sidearms that weren't there before stopping themselves.

The tension she felt dissipated slightly once she took her luggage and followed several of the diplomats out of the room and into a long corridor where one of the spaceport's staff, a short, uniformed man, waited by a massive set of wooden double doors. He smirked and bowed slightly as he gestured to the doors. "I'd prepare yourselves; it's a bit crazy out there," he said, before stepping to one side and hitting a small switch built into the wall. The doors slid open, revealing a massive concourse packed to near-bursting with crowds of cheering humans and binaries behind long, chest-high glowing blue walls, while a much smaller area near the middle of the concourse was set aside for about a dozen protesters. Beyond each wall of civilians, Jalina could see crowds of travelers craning to see the new arrivals while lining up at various terminals and check-in stations. Luggage in tow, she smiled and waved as she and the other diplomats walked to the open doors at the end of the makeshift corridor where a convoy of aircars were waiting. Jalina was ushered into one of the vehicles, a boxy tan-coloured truck, along with the delegation from the turian government, as well as a few business representatives. The binary driver, who didn't have a human-styled face, Jalina noted, was wearing a suit and a flat-topped cap. He leaned back into the passenger compartment and the singular vertical light serving as the only feature of his square head changed from blue to green as he gave a thumbs-up.

"Right then! My name's Yasuke," he said cheerfully. "I'll be your chauffeur for today, so if you've got any questions about things you see on the way to your suites you just ask and I'll do my best to answer, yeah?"

"If you don't mind me asking, how long is the ride to our accommodations, Yasuke?" asked one of the salarian buisnessmen. "I, uh, need to use the bathroom," he said sheepishly.

"Ah, no worries, it's only a ten minute drive from here," the binary said, nodding. The lights on lower half of his faceplate switched to red, and Jalina swore that if Yasuke had a face he'd be grinning. "Now, the folks in security say we can't outpace the lead vehicle, but you let me have a chat with Jurgen up front, and let's see if we can't do it in five."


	21. 5-2: REUNIONS

**CHAPTER 2: "REUNIONS"**

"Captain ED-7EN722, Regeneration 1 - Generation 2 Pilot Jane Shepard, Generation 2 Titan KN-6D1687, here for debrief," ED said as the three saluted the woman sitting at the desk.

"At ease, you three," the woman said, smiling. "Director Harper's just finishing a meeting with someone, but you're free to go in."

"Thank you, Deputy Coré."

"Please, ED, Eva will be fine."

"Ah, but we have to set a good example for Pilot Shepard and Titan KN, no?" ED stepped forward and gave Eva a warm embrace before smiling at the two soldiers standing behind her. "You're sure the three of us are cleared for the meeting inside?"

"It'll be alright," Eva said, checking her terminal. "They've finished discussing sensitive matters and are just catching up at this point. Go ahead," she said, waving a hand lazily at the door behind her. The trio pushed through the sleek metal doors, entering an all-black corridor lined with a variety of scanners and detectors; a multitude of lights flashed as the three walked through the corridor towards the next set of doors, these ones wooden. ED opened the door to reveal a nearly-bare room with all-metal flooring and walls; the only furnishings in the room were a large, wooden desk housing a massive holo terminal, a series of lounge chairs in front and off to the side of the desk, and a wall-sized holoboard displaying either a video or a live feed of a massive, red star. Two others were in the room already: Director Harper, a tall, pale-skinned man with greying hair and glowing blue eyes, and another woman that Jane didn't recognize. The woman was sitting in one of the lounge chairs to the side of Director Harper's desk, facing away from the entrance, and despite the quiet sound of ventilators working overtime the smoke from the Director's and the woman's kreteks filled the room with a sweet, oily smoke.

"...of course. You have always had the entirety of the IS available to support you and I promise you that will not change," Jack said, nodding. "I believe we'll have to end our discussion there, however. My next appointment's technically begun," he said, putting out his kretek and leaning back in his well-worn office chair.

"Very well," the woman said, standing up. She shook hands with Director Harper and turned to face the door, showing a bald head and a scarred, olive-skinned face; her body was entirely covered by a long, navy-blue cassock. "Mmm. A pleasure to meet you at last, ED, Jane, KN." The woman extended a metal hand, which ED shook, and then saluted at Jane and KN. The two looked at each other before saluting back.

"Sorry, ma'am, neither of us are aware of your rank, so if our saluting is not in order, we apologize," KN said in his most diplomatic tone.

"No, no, it's quite alright," the woman said, in a deep, scratchy voice. "We've never met. Major Karen Timoshenko, SAAF Special Operations Command, Internal Affairs and Operational Security Logistics. Technically speaking I outrank you, but I see no reason to not show respect to a Pilot or Titan." She turned, tossing her kretek butt into the ashtray on Jack's desk, then bowed slightly. "I'll take my leave, then," the woman said, and as she exited the office Jane couldn't help but notice that the woman's footsteps were either inaudible or somehow silent.

"Come, come, sit," Jack said, gesturing to the lounge chairs as he stood up. "It's a pleasure to see you three in person again. Can I offer any of you a kretek?" The trio shook their heads, and he shrugged as he sat down across from the trio in the chairs next to his desk. He smiled warmly as he shook hands with Jane and KN, before pulling a kretek from the familiar metal case in his jacket, sticking it in his mouth without lighting it. "I won't keep you away from shore leave for long, I promise. Firstly, we'll be doing some long-overdue modifications to the _Demeter_ during shore leave; I know there's been maintenance done on the ship but ever since its initial deployment - which was accelerated by nearly a year - the IS has been unable to afford an extended period of downtime for the ship and its operations. Part of that modification is going to be more room for crew, and pursuant to that IS Command has decided to expand the size of the on-board combat team." He pulled a small datastick from his coat, and passed it across the table. "IS Logistics has already identified a large number of potential recruits, mostly from within the IS. During your week of leave the two of you will select the additions to your team from the list of cleared personnel and prepare a training regiment for the new recruits."

"Director, is there a reason we're getting a larger combat team?" asked KN. "Not that I'm complaining, sir, more guns is always good- I was just wondering if we're expecting to be deployed into hotter zones."

"That's classified," Jack said, smirking, "but I am at liberty to tell you that we are expecting the _Demeter_ to be deployed into more, how to put it, direct operations in the future. Rest assured, we're not going to be throwing the _Demeter_ into warzones, or anything akin to that, but SAAF High Command has informed me that direct ground engagements will probably play in important role in some of our operations going forward." Jack's smiled vanished, and he leaned forward as he clasped his hands together. "You'll technically be informed in a few days, but continued negotiations with the Citadel Council have been going well for us. There's been a proposed series of joint operations between the Citadel's Spectres and the Alliance's Joint Special Operations Teams."

"But we're not part of the JSOT. Not yet," Jane said, nodding slowly.

"Exactly. Part of the overhaul will be modifying the exterior of the _Demeter_ to be more in line with the rest of the Alliance's fleet standards. Captain ED, I'm afraid you won't have much in the way of free time during leave as I'll need you and XO Lawson to oversee the modifications and ensure you're comfortable with the layout of the ship. Helmsman Goldstein and the rest of the Helm Crew will need to prep on the modified ship, but they can begin their training once they've been briefed with the rest of the crew."

"Understood, Director," ED said, nodding. "Will XO Lawson and I not be leaving for Harmony with the rest of the crew?"

"No, you two need at least a bit of rest. Take a day or two, try and relax. Let's say, be back at IS HQ in three days unless otherwise notified. Jane, KN, you two are free to stay with the rest of the crew for the entire week - just make sure you get those selections done, preferably sooner rather than later. If anyone asks, you're clear to let them know that the _Demeter_ 's crew is expanding; Captain ED, you'll need to brief your teams before you leave Harmony. Understood?"

"Yes, Director," the three said in unison. They all got up, and Jack shook hands with all three before they began to make their way to the door. As they were about to exist the office, Jack rapped his desk. "Ah, right, before you leave, I thought you'd be interested to know that, pending review of their applications, Jane, the _Demeter_ will be getting another Pilot-Titan pair." Jane and KN looked at each other, and high-fived after a moment as ED and Jack laughed. The Director lit his kretek, sat in his office chair surrounded by the glow of the red star, and leaned back with a smile on his face.

Thankfully, the ship that took the trio from the Intelligence Services headquarters to Harmony was built for speed and cleared as high-priority, and within a few hours they had arrived at an IS docking bay not far from Harmony. One quick shuttle ride later, they arrived planetside, docking at a private bay reserved for military use, not far from the heart of the capital megacity, Militia. After checking in with the bay's personnel, ED followed Jane and KN to the main entrance - which was empty with the exception of a few staff milling about -but did not follow them out to the taxi stand.

"Ma'am? You're not joining us?" asked KN.

"I''m not," ED said, shrugging slightly. "XO Lawson has a permanent residence in town, and she's apparently coming to pick me up in person shortly. I figured I would see you off and just wait for her here. I forgot to ask - will you be staying at the main SAAF complex?"

"No, I'll be at my mother's apartment," Jane replied. "She purchased a small unit in Daybreak a few decades ago, but as far as I know she hasn't set foot in the place since she got her commission. I haven't been there since well before I got into Pilot School, but she's been paying for it anyways."

"Ah, good, good. Well, I won't keep you two. Just keep an eye on your comms. There'll be a quick debrief session tomorrow afternoon for team leads, followed by a crew-wide one the day after."

"Ma'am," the two said, before heading outside. The taxi stand was mostly stocked with automated vehicles, although a few drivers, both human and binary, were hanging around either in our around their vehicles chatting. One of the cabbies, a short woman with long, red hair, waved the pair over as she made her way to her own vehicle.

"Oi," the woman shouted, "you two need a lift?"

"Sure," KN replied. KN and Jane walked over to the sleek aircar parked down the line and loaded their small bags into the trunk before getting into the back seat; the driver leaned back in her seat and shot the pair a grin.

"So? Where to?"

"Daybreak, 86 Jakarta Street, Horizon Towers," Jane explained as the car took off. "If I remember right you can avoid the E96 past Vancouver by moving up and over a few lanes into I30?"

"Mm, I know the place, though that shortcut's been blocked off for a while now - gotta take the main line all the way to the crossover point from Core to Daybreak. So," the driver said as the car ascended into a traffic lane and began making its way into the downtown core, "forgive my being all nosy, but you two coming back from a tour? Haven't been many people at this station today, you know. Think today me and the others only saw your ship and, say, one or two more."

"Yeah, we've been busy for a while," KN replied. "Finally got a week off - it'll be nice to relax, I think."

"Well, I hate to break it to you but none of the districts 'round the Core are gonna be relaxing, what with the alien tourists poking around. Seven hells, I'm excited about it, but I don't think you could call the atmosphere conducive for a good rest or anything."

"Eh, it'll be nice," Jane said, staring out the window at the never-ending expanse of metal dotted with greenery. "People in good spirits, maybe meet some new folks - really new - and have a good time. Sounds like a good vacation to me."

"Fucking hell, please don't jinx this," KN grumbled half-jokingly. "Last thing the cops need with all the new arrivals in town is someone starting something."

"Well they're screwed if they do," the driver said, nodding. "Security's tighter than it's ever been, long as I can remember, anyway. Community watch, regular police, military cops. Hells, I'd bet there're even some Pilots and Titans out there, hiding until it's time to kick ass."

"I think," Jane said, "that Pilot or otherwise, everyone involved with security would really rather not have to kick anyone's ass."

The rest of the ride passed by quickly, with the driver making a bit of small talk occasionally. About fifteen minutes later, the vehicle dropped from its mid-air lane and touched down on a landing pad outside of a massive apartment complex, its dull bronze towers shining slightly as the sun set. Jane and KN thanked the driver, got out, and took their bags from the trunk before making their way inside the leftmost apartment block. The interior was mostly bronze, with a few chairs arranged into a small lounge sitting opposite of a reception area, where an old, bald man with a pale complexion and dressed in a grey suit, sat at in a well-worn chair. He stood up and waved at the pair. "Jane Shepard, yes?"

"Soren," Jane said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and walking over to shake his hand over the desk, "it's good to see you."

"Ahh," Soren replied, stepping back, "it is good to see you too. Goodness, you look more like your mother every time we meet. Will you be staying for long? Last time you were barely here for a month!"

"Sorry, Soren, I'm only here for a week this time," Jane replied, shrugging. "Busy with work, as usual."

"Mmm. A noble profession, being a warrior, but one that leaves you with little time for vacations, I suppose." He waved KN over to the desk and shook hands with the binary. "Soren Mercurius."

"KN-6D1687, KN or Kenneth for short," the binary said, nodding.

"Well, well, you wouldn't happen to have passed that Pilot exam, would you?" Soren grinned, and shook his head. "Please tell me you've told your mother."

"Yeah, I did."

"Good, good, good! Anyways, I won't keep pestering you with questions that I'm sure I'm not cleared to know the answers to. I'm sure you've got to get to work having a day off for once," he said, chuckling. "Ah, one moment," he said, passing a cable out of his desk to KN. "Registering yourself as a resident in case you'd like to head out and I'm not here." He waited as KN plugged the cable into his hand, and placed it back on his desk a second later. "Okay, wonderful. Head on up- we've cleaned the place every few months, but otherwise it's exactly as you've left it."

The pair walked over to one of the many elevators beyond the foyer, and waited as a small scanner built into the keypad on the will flickered. A few moments later, a light on the keypad flashed green and changed its display to a list of floors; Jane tapped the button for floor 92 and less than a minute later the doors opened into a hallway styled similarily to the lobby. Jane walked over to a door to the right of the elevators, placed her hand on the door's keypad, waited for the keyhole scanner to finish its work and frowned as the keypad flashed red. "This unit has not been used for an extended period of time. Please present your key, or wait for the security staff to verify the situation."

"Want me to go back and tell Soren?" asked KN.

"Nah, hold on," Jane said, moving her bag around to her front and opening it. "I've got this thing somewhere in here. Thought I wouldn't need it, this security thing is new. Gimme a second." KN watched as Jane rummaged around inside the bag for a minute or so before pulling a small keystick out. "There we go," she said, inserting it into the slot in the keypad.

"Thank you for your patience," the synthesized voice said, as the doors opened. As the pair crossed past the door, shutters opened to let in light, illuminating a sleek, if somewhat sparsely furnished living room with only a small, green sofa and a few chairs in front of a holo terminal, as well as a small kitchen beyond. Jane let out a small whoop, kicked off her shoes and ran off around the corner, her bag in tow, and seconds later KN found Jane rolling around on a bed covered in a faded blanket and several plush dog and cat toys. She stopped rolling on the blanket and glared at KN.

"Don't judge me. And not a word to anyone, especially Miranda."

After unpacking what little she had in the way of luggage and stowing her personal weapons in a small locker next to the bed, Jane had a hot shower and changed into a pair of fatigues she'd had since boot camp which now served as sleepwear, and made sure to sort the most treasured of her animal toys - Francesca, Mr. Cat, Benson and Countess Floop - in their proper positions by the bed's pillow before returning to the living room. KN was sprawled out on the couch, his Light Assault rig carefully placed in a small pile in the far corner of the room, and a charging cable snaked out of his back and into a small port on the side table next to the couch. The holoscreen was showing a hammerball game, and Jane raised an eyebrow as she made her way into the kitchen. "I didn't know you liked hammerball," she said.

She watched as KN jerked upright, looking around. "Huh? What? Oh, I wasn't watching the game, was just doing some diagnostics, checking the tacnet and whatnot. Last time I was paying attention Optimum Drive was on." KN mimed giving his head a shake, and cocked his head as Jane opened the fridge. "You can't be serious. Augs or not, are you really gonna eat something you've left for, like, upwards of two years?"

"What? No, I'm just looking," Jane said, poking around the empty fridge. "I wouldn't have left anything, and besides, even if I did, the cleaners would have gotten it."

"Why're you looking if you know nothing is in there?"

"It's an human thing. Sometimes you just have to look," Jane replied, shutting the fridge door and opening the freezer. She sighed, shut the freezer, and frowned as KN sat up suddenly. "What's up?"

"Comm went off? Hold up," he said, his face-lights shifting from green to red. "Yes, KN speakin- oh, what? Yeah! Hold on, hold on." He motioned for Jane to come over, and pulled a small communications cable out from his arm, which Jane took as she leaned over the back of the couch and plugged it into her neck port. A small icon lit up in her HUD, displaying a speakerphone with the words 'Secure Tactical Network Transmission' underneath. "Go ahead," KN said, "Jane's jacked in."

"You took time off from being a spy and you didn't even let me know?" The voice was female, bright and upbeat. "I thought we were friends!"

"Lee! How've you been? I didn't know you were off-duty. Actually, wait, how did you know?"

"By accident, to be honest. One of the people you work with, AN-2E006A? Amina? She wouldn't explain more than that, said it was classified. Anyways, yeah, she's related somehow to Sucy, one of our Pilots. She mentioned that she'd been working with the IS for only a short while and I figured I'd ask if she knew you, and she did!"

"Huh. Small galaxy, I suppose," Jane said. "Well, I was kind of hoping for a relaxing evening since this is basically the first real night off I've had in months, and no offense, I feel like a night out with you and GB is going to be anything but relaxing. How long are you on Harmony for?"

"Well, most of the cadre's staying planetside for at least a few more days. Finished a bunch of operations and our bosses have to meet up with High Command for some reason, so we're stuck here for a bit. Tell you what, you stay in, and how about we meet up tomorrow?"

"We've got a debrief tomorrow afternoon," KN replied, "but we're free otherwise. How about in the evening? Does that work?"

"Yup, sounds good. GB'll be there, and you can meet some of the other Pilots from the Riflemen while you're at it. Alright, go get some rest or whatever and I'll see you tomorrow!"

Jane said goodbye, unplugged KN's comm cable from her neck and let it snake back into his chassis before turning to him. "Busy day tomorrow?"

"Speak for yourself," KN said, getting up to stretch an arm before miming checking a watch. "It's 2300. I'm powering down at 0100 and if you wake me up before 1100 tomorrow there'd better be a good reason," he grumbled, before flopping back into the couch.

"Sleeping in? Really?"

"Hey, just because I don't need to sleep, doesn't mean I don't appreciate it."

"I suppose. Well, I'm probably gonna head down to the 7-11 to grab some supplies, wanna come with?"

KN stared at the couch in a manner Jane could only describe as forlornly, then let out a long sigh. "Oh, fine, I'll get up out of this comfy sofa that I just sat down in and tag along. Really, though, this is a real nice couch," he said as he got up.

"Mom bought it, like, a year after I was born. Old couch here has served the Shepard family well," Jane said, patting the couch affectionately. "Many good after-school naps were had here. Gimme a sec to get changed - you can head downstairs if you want." KN nodded, first heading to the small pile of combat rigging to attach a light armour-plate and his sidearm module to his chassis before heading to the front door; he grabbed a small beret he'd left on the coat hook and put it on before heading out the door. Jane walked back into the bedroom and had just stripped out of her fatigues when her comm blared in her internal speakers and flahsed urgently on her HUD.

 _Urgent Tactical Network Update to all Pilots. Priority Channel Pilot-Two. Message to follow.  
_  
"This is Regeneration 98 - Generation 560 Pilot Jon Grissom, Charon Cadre. All Pilots and Titans on Harmony able to arrive at the Central HDFB in Core in ten minutes or less, report to base immediately pending permission of your Cadre leaders. We have a situation and require QRF units to intercept possible Cerberus agents incoming from multiple locations. Do your best to get here covertly. I say again, this is R98-G560 Pilot Jon Grissom, Charon Cadre..."

Jane looked at the plush toys on her bed and the pajamas she'd thrown on her dresser, then at her Pilot Suit that lay sealed in its protective casing in her closet; KN burst back into the apartment seconds later. "Jane! We gotta move!"

Jane sighed, unsealed her Pilot Suit and began putting it on. "One day," she grumbled, "I'll have a night off." Moments later, she finished sealing herself ino the suit, plugged her jump kit into her waist and felt the telltale sensation of water pouring into her skull as the suit interfaced with her body.

 _Pilot Suit IS Type online. Initiating systems check. Ark battery charged and ready. Primary suit functions active. Ark Shielding online. Reactive armour plates online. Munitions tracking online. Medical systems engaged. Grapple function ready. Phase ready. Cloak ready. Chronotech systems ready. Classified suit functions on standby. Jump Kit charge at 100%. OS Version: Intelligence Services Combat Type v.9.3. Good hunting, Pilot.  
_  
Jane grabbed her weapons out of the locker next to her bed and began filling her rig with magazines. _Smart Pistol -R Semi-Automatic Rail Handgun w/ Smart Targeting. Alternator Anima Double-barreled Select-Fire Rail PDW w/ Adjustable ROF._ She ran out into the living room, where KN was attaching the last of his Light Assault Rig, and the pair gave their equipment their usual check before opening a line to Captain ED, who picked up a few moments later.

"Jane? KN? What's going on?"

"You didn't get the message, ma'am?" asked KN.

"What me- hold on, yes, I'm getting a message now, one moment." There was a second or two of silence before her voice came back, cold and deadly. "Do whatever you need to do. We do NOT need Cerberus ruining our work with the Citadel."

"Thank you, ma'am." Jane popped open the living room window and pulled up a map on her HUD. "Fastest way to Central is a straight line, KN," she said, pointing in the direction of a large skyscraper. "Ready?"

"Always up to kill me some Cerbs," KN said grimly. "Let's go."

The pair took several steps back, sprinted at top speed towards opening at top speed and fired themselves out of the building, their cloaks making them invisible as they flew into the night sky.

The pair swung past buildings and weaved through traffic, their presence almost entirely unnoticed by the crowds of civilians they flew over and past; the only person who came close to noticing anything out of the ordinary was a man working late in an office building who happened to be taking a break outside, and even he only noticed the quiet 'thunk' of their grappling hooks briefly attaching to the underside of the balcony. Within minutes they left the Daybreak neighbourhood and were in the Core, and at the ten minute mark were on the roof of a small take-out restaurant next to Harmony Defence Force Base Central. The base's front gates were locked down, and Jane noticed a few other pairs of Titans and Pilots flying past the base's perimeter and uncloaking as they landed on the roofs of barracks and other buildings. KN nodded at Jane, and the two followed suit, landing on the roof of a garage next to the base's motor pool. As soon as they uncloaked, another Pilot jumped up from ground and landed next to the pair. "Briefing's already started," the woman said, gesturing to the main building. "Hatch on the roof, head right, third door on the left. Get moving, I gotta check for other stragglers." The pair followed her instructions as the other Pilot jumped onto the next building over, scaled the building and quickly made their way inside. The room they landed in was guarded by several heavily-armed binary soldiers who waved them over to the side and scanned them before letting them leave the room. A minute later, Jane and KN found the briefing room, whose door was sealed and guarded by three more Pilots. They simply nodded at the pair, unlocked the door and led them inside.

A quick scan of the room revealed about four dozen Pilots or Titans either sitting on the floor or standing, and as her HUD displayed their names she noticed the group was composed almost entirely of Pilots and Titans she didn't know. She ended up sitting next to Lee and GB, who she found near the middle of the room, and looked at the front of the room. She did recognize the three standing at the front of the room: Pilot Jon Grissom and his Titan partner SN-001EE1, Susan. Standing next to them was Major Karen Timoshenko, still dressed in the same blue cossack she'd been wearing when they'd first met. Susan rapped the lectern near the front of the room and waited for the quiet muttering to stop. "I'll skip the icebreakers today. I'm SN, this is Pilot Grissom. You've probably heard of us. Half an hour ago, we received intel from Major Karen Timoshenko here. I'll let her explain."

"Thank you, SN. To start," Karen said as she stepped forward, "I'm from SAAF Special Operations Command, Internal Affairs and Operational Security Logistics. Earlier today one of our operators noticed that a shipment of equipment bound for storage here in Core had an error regarding one of its containers briefly. The logs showed, just for a moment - we're talking just over a microsecond - that the container in question displayed its weight as zero before switching back to normal. The operator figured it was a software glitch, and kicked it up the chain. About three hours ago, we got confirmation that no less than ninety such errors have occurred over the past twenty-four hours. We investigated and found that while most of the equipment in question was delivered, two large containers are still unaccounted for. The manifests were altered to state that there were never any containers on there prior to their arrival at the offload points, and our current log says they've been delivered; the bases waiting for the containers say they recieved a call from the delivery trucks claiming they'd be late due to a shipping error. The few traces left during their hack is consistent with previous evidence or Cerberus activities; I don't know how they altered our records, but that's something for another time. Thanks to time dilation, satellite surveillance and a bit of luck we managed to locate the two containers." Karen nodded at Jon, who pressed a button on the lectern and watched as a map of Militia appeared near the front of the room. The map shifted and an icon lit up displaying a live feed, showing two massive unmarked air transports sitting in traffic just beyond the Spire district. "The trucks are currently making their way towards downtown Core from Spire, and at their current rate they'll be in Core in about two hours."

"Priority one is protecting the civilians, especially the diplomats and VIPs the Citadel sent. If anything happens to those aliens we are in unbelievable shit. Priority two is limiting collateral- those transports were mostly carrying small-arms munitions, but those containers are big enough to fit at least three or four Titans or equivalent in land vehicles, technicals, you name it. Last thing we need is some suicide truck going off near a crowd, let alone one of you guys firing off a bunch of autocannons and slushing a bunch of civs," Jon said, scowling. "Priority three is capturing these assholes alive. If you can, do it - fuck knows we need to figure how they pulled this off, and I'd love to hear it from their mouths. If not, that's fine. Don't go getting killed trying to bag one.

"Police ETF are gearing up to intercept those trucks right now - I want at least four of you on each truck for intercept duty. Rest of us are split between forming a defensive perimeter by Core, and protecting the buildings housing the alien civilians. Armoury on-base is open - you take anything you need. Questions?"

"Yeah," one of the Titans in the room said, raising a hand. "If the doggos do have tanks, strikers, whatever, are we cleared for Titanfall? I know we can all take out enemy vehicles on foot but it'd help."

"Depends on the drop point. SN's managed to get clearance for drops in any open, large spaces. Frankly if you need to, request a drop anywhere you want and I'll handle the fallout. Just try not to squish any civvies or destroy any buildings, please. As for chassis and loadouts, I know most of you aren't going to have access to your personal kits, but the on-site titan pool has a good selection. Any more questions?" He scanned the room, and grunted. "Alright. Armoury is in the basement, titan pool is next door. Gear up, ready your titan-chassis ready and start grouping up. Clear?"

"Yes, Pilot!" the room shouted back.

"Fastest way down is back out the hatch," SN said. "Let's move."

About two minutes later, the soldiers guarding the base's armoury jumped to attention as a crowd of Pilots and Titans entered the corridor they were manning. "Pilots, Titans, it's an honour to serve you," one of them said, saluting. "The doors are open and you can take whatever you need. Don't worry about signing anything out - we'll take care of it!"

Jon simply nodded, and clapped the soldier on the arm as he walked by. "Thank you. We appreciate it." The others followed him into the armoury proper, and immediately began unlocking various racks and pulling open shelves full of weaponry. KN picked up a shotgun and explosives module as well as a booster pack for his jump kit before carrying it over to a fitting station, while Jane topped up on magazines for her Alternator before selecting a long, thin weapon and opening an attached case full of small cylinders.  
 _  
HPP41 Multiple Munitions Projector. Payloads: Shard Airburst, Gravity Penetrator, Firespray. Arc Chain-Mines. Electronic Countermeasure Explosives.  
_  
Satisfied with her choices, she made her way over to KN and waited for him to exit the station before the pair checked each other's gear. The two then made their way to the titan pool through a secure hatch; engineers were swarming over the rows of titan chassis, performing pre-launch checks and driving carts laden with towering weapon racks to each chassis before installing them into a slot in each bay. Jane and KN took off at a jog towards an empty Vanguard chassis, and as they neared the hangar bay Jane could see Lee and GB (both clad in heavier armour than she or KN were wearing) approaching a Bishamon. The engineer on duty waved at them as they approached, and pointed at the weapon rack which was now installed and powering up. "Hey," the binary shouted, "you two want this one?"

"Yeah," KN shouted as they arrived at the bay. "We good to make last-minute adjustments?"

"Go ahead - sync up at the rear maintenance terminal. I know you Pilots don't like working with stock gear but it's the best we can do. Guntower's online, too - selection's the finest you'll find in the galaxy. You guys need anything, just shout."

KN nodded at Jane and jogged to the rear of the cradle which housed the towering chassis and plugged himself into a small terminal jutting out of the cradle's structure, while Jane deftly clambered up the titan and slid into its open cockpit. Before she'd even fully sat down Jane was several steps into the initial startup procedure, flipping switches and deactivating manual safety catches by reflex. Less than a minute later, the work was done and Jane slapped a glowing blue button on the side of the cockpit before plugging the maintenance cable behind the headrest into one of her neck ports to begin equipping the chassis with weapons.

 _Manual Neural Link Established. R1 Pilot _\- G1 Titan KN-6D1687. _Begin armament procedure. _Armament set "Urb-Pac" engaged. Vindicaator II 70mm Autocannon: Online. Shells loaded: Urban ZeroCol Sledgehammer, Urban ZeroCol Gravity Well. Incisor Dual Shoulder-Mounted Laser Projectors. Shot-Gauntlets. Vortex Shield: Online. Phasic Core: Online.  
____  
"Guns up!" Jane shouted as she jumped back out of the cockpit; already, the weapon tower had encircled the hardpoints of the chassis and was mounting weapons onto the massive machine.

"Good here too," KN added, unplugging himself from the terminal.

"Alright, get up to the staging point outside," the engineer said. "I'll take it from here."

The pair both nodded at the engineer and rushed towards the titan pool's main gate, which was only now beginning to open; Jane was proud to note that she and KN were among the first dozen to finish gearing up. Outside, Jon and SN were already waiting, both kneeling on the ground with their shotguns placed in front of them. The other Pilots and Titans joined the group, and Jon began to speak via helmet comms as dropships began landing on top of the motor pool. "Listen up! We've got one-thirty until our interlopers show up at Core. Your titan chassis are being loaded now and will be ready for titanfall in ten - so get it together and get ready to move. I need at least eight of you to head out and move to assist the ETF officers. They're planning on doing the intercepts once the transports cross Vancouver and Lagos - big intersection, lots of room for civs to land, good fields of fire for us. Second group, secondary interception, spread between Freeport and Tidal - if anyone breaks past line one, you need to move fast and kill faster. Last team, spread between Militia and Main. Right now, every alien tourist, diplomat and VIP we can find is being escorted back to safe locations either in the residences or in the nearest bunker. Until we're one hundred percent sure all the aliens are in secure locations or all the terrorists are dead or capped, nobody gets past you. Clear?"

"Clear," the group responded.

"Good. I was contacted - personally - by Director Norris of the HDF. We have full satscan access, automated defenses, you name it. Don't hesitate to make use of anything - or anyone - you think you can use." Jon nodded at SN, who blinked her lights before speaking.

"Before we squad up," SN continued. "How many of you are R5 - G5 or below?" Jane, KN, and a handful of others raised their hands, and SN nodded. "We're not leaving anything to chance. You guys make sure you're in a group with with someone above your gen, okay? Not an insult, we just can't take chances today. Questions?"

Nobody said anything.

"Alright. Let's move. Remember, clean kills, good kills, everyone goes home. Good hunting."

GB - who, up close, cut a much bulkier and imposing figure than KN - and Lee both walked over to Jane and KN. "So," GB said, shaking her head. "Not quite the reunion I was expecting, but so it goes." The four briefly hugged before another Pilot and Titan stepped forward. "Our bosses," GB said, stepping aside. The Pilot wore the red-brown colours of Cooper's Riflemen, similar to Lee, while the Titan accompanying her was at least a head taller than Jane and even slimmer than KN in his Light Assault Rig.

"R12-G110 Pilot Sucy Lastimosa and R6-G110 Titan JP-X009E1, Joe," the woman said, shaking hands with Jane and KN. "Lee and GB speak highly of you."

"Means a lot coming from you, ma'am," KN said.

"We'll be part of the third line," Joe simply stated. "Any objections?"

"None," Jane replied.

The group that ended up holding the last defensive line consisted of about two dozen Pilots and Titans; almost all of them were from the Riflemen Cadre, and as the highest Generation Pilot and Titan, Sucy and Joe ended up taking informal command of the group. They reached the intersection of Militia and Main, smack dab in the centre of the downtown core, with nearly an hour to spare. They regrouped on the top of a shared-office skyscraper and immediately began setting up fields of fire and running through rollouts and shortcuts while the civilians below were evacuated and air traffic was rerouted.

"Pilot QRF force, this is HDF Operator Overseer," a woman's voice said via comms shortly after the group had arrived. "We've got all available sat-scanners on dilation duty to track the trucks and any passengers or mechanized units they have on board and will keep you updated. ETA to final line at current speed is 55 minutes. Primary line interception, 30 minutes."

"Understood," Sucy said, before turning to the rest of the group. "OfficeLink here is our staging area. From here we can roll out easily thanks to our height advantage - we stay here, track Cerberus movement and move to intercept if they change course. I'd guess that their primary target is the Diplomatic Corps HQ down on MacAllan and Liberty - if they make it past the first line we need to be ready to pull a fighting retreat back there. When they get close, we split into groups of four; priority one is killing them and priority two is pushing them away from here. Surround, harass, kill. Questions?" Nobody said anything, and Sucy simply nodded. "Good. Check gear, go over sightlines, layouts, whatever prep work you think you need."

Jane and KN joined Lee and GB, and the four began checking each other's gear; they made no small talk and instead waited in silence as their HUDs showed the two stolen trucks nearing the first interception point. From the camera feed, Jane watched as a swarm of police vehicles surrounded the two trucks mid-air and the assembled Pilots and Titans watched as makeshift firing ports slid open on the side of the left truck, unleashing a torrent of lasers and explosives at the police cars. Most managed to dodge the barrage entirely or escape with minor damage, but nine of the cop cars were unable to move in time and were sent to the ground in pieces. Seconds later, the truck on the right opened fire as well, and the police vehicles began retreating as automated turrets and previously-unseen Pilots and Titans hiding on or in nearby buildings began firing at the trucks. Their cover broken, the trucks rammed their way out of traffic and began flying a full speed towards downtwon Core; they managed to clear the intersection, but not before several Pilots and Titans managed to latch onto the trucks with grappling hooks while the rest followed as fast as possible, using jump-kit assisted grapples to fling themselves after the trucks at well over a hundred kilometres per hour. The Pilots and Titans who had managed to attach themselves to the trucks were now busy reeling themselves in, using their jump kits to avoid the fire aimed at them from the truck's guns. Once in range, they began throwing a variety of projectiles at the truck; Jane could see breaching charges, pulse blades and sticky grenades being thrown at the truck in addition to the heavy weapons fire supporting them. Most of the projectiles were shot down or deflected by what appeared to be a low-powered shield, but a few managed to slip past the vehicles' defenses.

"This is Oni, QRF, first line," shouted a Titan over comms. "Got a pulse blade online, sending info now!"

Jane's HUD flickered as one of the trucks switched to a see-through view.

The interior of the truck contained no vehicles; rather, it was crammed full of soldiers - a mix of binary and human - all wearing jump kits.

"Fuck," Lee said.

"Shit, looks like enemy Pilots," Oni said. "They got my hook - pulling back!" The first line's troops continued to exchange fire with the trucks, focusing their fire on the one closer to them; someone managed to fire a shot that pierced through the reinforced armourplate of the truck, wounding several of the hostile soldiers inside and damaging its engine. Less than a second later the truck's rear cab exploded in a shower of metal as the vehicle seemingly ejected the container it was carrying while simultaneously detaching the container's roof and walls, and Jane could only grit her teeth as a horde of Cerberus Pilots, their orange insignia now clearly visible on their armour, ejected themselves from the now-crashing truck and split into two groups. One group flew directly into the Pilots and Titans chasing them as the lanes normally reserved for traffic devolved into a brutal mid-air skirmish, with Alliance and Cerberus soldiers flinging themselves in, off, and around buildings while barrages of railgun fire smashed through office building windows and ripped apart cars parked on landing pads. The other group simply ignored the first line and continued, either by flying or by hitching a ride on the second truck — whose contents remained unknown — which was now barreling towards the second line.

"This is line one," shouted a Pilot, "we couldn't grab 'em all!"

"That's fine, just keep them busy! Line two! Multiple hostile enemy Pilots inbound as well as an enemy transport!" shouted Jon. "Visual on the truck - light'em up!" Even without the camera feeds, Jane could see the flashes of gunfire erupting not too far away from her current position and the booming sounds of railguns and autoturrets filled the night. Moments later, there was a massive explosion as the second truck went down, and from a traffic feed Jane could see that, like the first truck, the second was full of even more Pilots. "Shit, they're trying to pull the same trick," Jon said over comms. "We're going to try and kill as many as we can but it's not gonna be all of 'em - contact! Third line get ready! Come on!" Like the first line, the second group of Pilots and Titans began engaging the Cerberus soldiers both in and outside the buildings surrounding them, and though she was sorely tempted to watch Jon and SN's camera feeds in action she began checking her gear again and preparing herself for an actual fight.

"Well, this is it," KN said, sighing. "First time in, well, ever that we get to fight other Pilots and Titans. You ready?"

"Fuck yeah I'm ready," Lee said, readying her rifle. "Gets boring stomping all over grunts sometimes."

"Really? I always recall you enjoying it," Jane replied as she stretched her neck. "Something about being all-powerful?"

"Don't encourage her," GB said, snorting. "She's bad enough as is, y-"

"-cut that chatter!" Joe shouted. "Riflemen and others! Our job is simple: put those Cerb fuckers in the ground! Clear?"

"Clear!"

Sucy beat her chest rig with her free hand. "Riflemen! Protocol!"

Jane, KN and the two others not in the cadre simply watched as the others followed Sucy's lead. "Link to partner! Uphold the mission! Protect my partner!"

"Riflemen! Guns up!"

Jane grinned at KN, who flashed a red light back. "Guns up!"

"Pilot QRF Line 3, this is Overseer. Transferring wallhack and scan ranges to your suits. Contact in sixty. Good luck."

"Understood," Sucy said, as she and Joe assumed a ready position by the edge of the rooftop. "Half of us with me - we'll intercept. Everyone else, hold and engage any that make it past us." Sucy nodded, and she fired herself off the roof as the others followed.

Jane watched as her HUD lit up with the outlines of no less than sixty Cerberus soldiers coming into contact with Sucy's group; at least half were tied up fighting the interception group, which still left exactly thirty hostiles closing in, fast. "Lee! Aerials!" Lee simply nodded, and took the ready position. The second the Cerberus soldiers cleared the roof of the building directly in front of them and began to descend upon them, Jane, Lee and the others fired a barrage of gravity stars in a spread above and behind the incoming hostiles before activating their shoulder-mounted vortex shields and firing themselves directly at Cerberus soldiers. Her vortex shield flared as it began to catch incoming railgun rounds and deflected several grapple shots; Jane twisted her body as she neared one of the Cerberus Pilots, firing her jump kit to slingshot herself around a gravity star's field, underneath and behind the Pilot attempting to grapple her mid-air. Now behind the attacker, Jane fired her kit again and fired her grapple into the Cerberus Pilot's jump kit. A split-second after the grapple indicator lit up on her HUD, Jane accelerated past the Cerberus soldier towards the OfficeLink building, smashing through a window feet- first, landing in a boost-slide. "Ledge and tap," she said via comm to KN as she landed.

The Cerberus Pilot, still frantically attempting to dislodge the grapple line lodged in his kit, was pulled towards the open window and was angling himself for a slide landing like Jane's when KN boosted straight down into him, smashing the Pilot directly onto the corner of the open ledge. There was a loud crunching noise as the enemy Pilot's legs folded in, and before he could recover Jane retracted her grapple, pulling the Cerberus soldier towards her into the office in an arc; as he passed over her, Jane grappled him again, and as the Cerberus Pilot arced towards the floor she boosted up, slapped his hand out of the way and punched the barrel of her Alternator into his neck. Slamming the Pilot into the ground, she set the PDW at 1800 rounds per minute and emptied half the magazine into his neck and towards his skull. Two more Cerberus Pilots landed into the office building and began firing at Jane before she could recover; her shields were tagged, but she managed to flee towards an emergency stairwell and boosted a kick through the doorway.

"Up," shouted Lee, "and I'll assist!"

Jane jumped into the middle of the stairwell and grappled up towards the roof exit as the two enemy Pilots followed. Both followed her and attempted to grapple up towards the roof as well; she managed to turn her body towards them, unclipped two chains of arc mines and flung it down the stairwell. One of the grapples caught the chain and the enemy Pilot failed to disengage in time as his grapple retracted the chain of mines directly into his face, but the other Pilot simply boosted out of the way and fired his grapple again. Jane barely had time to activate her shield before the enemy Pilot began firing sprays of shotgun shards towards her, and as she cleared the stairwell and boosted back out onto the roof several shard blasts cut straight through the ceiling of the stairwell. Now on the roof again, Jane clamped her Alternator on her chest rig, unholstered her Rampwinder, loaded Gravity-Penetrators and fired a salvo towards the open door she had come through.

The enemy Pilot boost-slid underneath the barrage, but recovered into a sprint too quickly; one of the shells popped his shields, and the second hit him directly in the right arm, first rendering it useless as it flopped backwards, knocking the shotgun the Pilot was carrying away before bending at a ninety degree angle as the gravity warp activated and caused the arm to implode in a spurting spray of gore. The Cerberus Pilot's suit simply sealed the wound and the soldier continued his sprint as if nothing was wrong, and Jane fired herself at him, firing her Alternator as she holstered her heavy weapon; the Cerberus Pilot activated his vortex, catching the PDW rounds and drawing a Wingman rail-revolver with his left. Now in melee range, Jane launched a boosted kick at his groin, simultaneously punching away an attempted point-blank shot from the revolver; the enemy Pilot boosted backwards, only to be tackled from above by Lee, who landed knees-first into his head and slammed a flameblade into his visor before drawing a shotgun and unloading several rounds into the Pilot's skull.

"Hey, Jane."

"Hey, Lee," Jane said, reloading her Alternator and giving Lee a thumbs up.

"No love for ol' KN here, ladies?" KN exited the stairwall Jane had used, dragging the limp body of a Cerberus Pilot with him; the body was missing both legs, each blasted off at the kneecaps, and one of its hands was missing. "Bagged one alive, somehow." He paused to scan the horizon; Sucy's group had managed even better, and there were now only thirty Cerberus Pilots scattered throughout the area. "Come on, let's mop the rest up."

Jane and KN were about to take off again, when her comms lit up with a priority message.

"This is Overseer, we have a ton of Cerberus contacts just outside the orbital defense perimeter! We're shooting them down as fast as we can but - oh, fuck! They're jumping!"

Jane watched, eyes narrowed, as the sky lit up with the glow of incoming FTL; a dozen or so Cerberus-branded shuttles, many of them little more than flaming wrecks, burst out of the tears and began screaming towards the ground. Jane scowled and was about to make a smart remark when she noticed the objects falling from the flaming wrecks.

They were pods.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Lee said.

"This is Jon! We've got hostile dropships with hostile Titans! Third line, you've got at least a two, no, three dozen enemy Titans landing in your area! Susan, come on!"

"On it," Sucy said. "Group two, kill those Titans. We'll mop up the stragglers."

"Ma'am," Lee said. "Let's move!" The group watched as the pods in the air above them burst open and flashed purple-white; the tell-tale screeching noise of warp-dropped Titans slamming into the ground in the streets below echoed moments later. The group's HUD lit up and Jane swore as several of the Titans began sprinting towards a series of bunkers well into the area the group was supposed to be protecting. Jane, KN and the others took off at full speed towards the crowd of Titans which were now engaging automated turrets in the streets.

"Overseer! Need Titans for our group at the corner of Nexus and MacAllan," Jane shouted as they closed in on the enemy mechs.

"Understood, Pilot. Stand by for Titanfall."

The sky lit up once again, and the intersection where the Cerberus mechs stood exploded into a shower of metal and asphalt as GB's Bishamon, KN's Vanguard and three other friendly Titan chassis teleported into the street. The Cerberus machines wasted no time engaging; Jane and KN flew through the hailstorm of fire, an as KN hooked his infantry body into the rear cradle mounted on the Vanguard's underbelly, Jane slid into the open cockpit. Her HUD lit up as KN transferred into the chassis proper.

"We are outnumbered six to one," KN said, as Jane's vision was replaced by that of the Vanguard's. "Target-rich environment," he said, gleefully.

"Good," Jane said, as _they_ activated the Vindicator auto-railcannon, loading it with a fresh rack of shells. "I like it that way."


	22. 5-3: SURVIVAL

**CHAPTER THREE: "SURVIVAL"**

Nihlus awoke to thunderous crashing and the sounds of heavy fighting above; he was trapped in some sort unlit, coffin-like chamber and laying on a soft mattress. He attempted to get up and recoiled as he bumped his head into the low ceiling. "Fuck," he said, rubbing at his face. _Wait, what? This isn't right,_ Nihlus thought to himself. _Where am I? Last I remember we were at that bar, then Jesus said we should try the, what, capsule hotel? Yeah. The capsule hotel. Underground. Shit. Okay._ Nihlus got up, slowly, this time, and slid to the small door at his feet. Noticing that the small button that he was told would unlock the door was unlit, he instead felt around for the emergency release, pulled it, and slid out of the tube.

He landed on his feet in the small chamber outside, which was dimly lit by emergency lighting strips on the ceiling and floor. Several chunks of the ceiling and walls were caved in, and at the far end of the chamber, Jesus - the veteran who had been the group's assigned host - lay against a broken section of wall, unmoving. Nihlus ran over, ignoring the ringing pain in his head, knelt by Jesus and swore viciously as he noticed a massive chunk of metal which was sticking out of the broken wall and jammed into his skull. A quick scan from his omnitool revealed Jesus to have been dead for nearly ten minutes, and Nihlus could only push away his anger and return to the rows of hotel pods. He quickly began yanking the doors open, and in short order found Larix, Ultina and Raetor, all of whom appeared to be unharmed.

"Boss?" asked Larix, getting to his feet as Ultina helped pull him from his pod. "The fuck is going on?"

"I have no idea, but given the sounds coming from up top I can't imagine it's any good. Come on, help me find Itok." The group quickly swept through all of the pods, and about half a minute later Raetor shouted for everyone to come over.

"Guys," Raetor said uneasily, "we have a problem!" He activated his suit-mounted light and shone it into the pod, revealing that the tube had partially caved in; Itok's head was split open partially by a piece of the tube's inner structure, and the wound was bleeding at an alarming rate. "Ultina, gimme a hand getting him out! Larix, Nihlus, we neeed a medical kit or something - and help!"

"On it - come on! Let's move," Larix said as he and Nihlus left the room. The corridor outside was also filled with rubble and sections of collapsed ceiling, but was otherwise devoid of life. Nihlus scanned the corridor and found a series of directions embossed on the wall. _Pod room one, two, three, four, bathroom - there!_ He noticed a red-and-white cross, the Alliance's sign for medical treatment, displayed next to the arrow leading to the bathroom, and followed along. A few seconds later he entered the bathroom and found several first aid kits hanging from the wall next the sink; he grabbed one, tossed the other to Larix and returned to the room he'd awoken in.

Ultina and Raetor were both hovering over Itok's unconcious body and attempting to stem the bleeding with a series of bandages fashioned from Itok's shirt. Nihlus knelt by the two, popped open the first aid kit and looked inside to find about a dozen injectors containing a variety of fluids, as well as several canisters he wasn't familiar with. Two sets of gloves were attached to the inside of the kit's lid with pictures of both humans and binaries putting it on. "Well, you're up," Larix said, tossing a set of gloves at Raetor. "No clue if our talons would rip these things open."

Raetor twitched as he put the gloves on and looked at Nihlus. "It's interfacing - well, trying to interface - with my suit. Hold on, let's see here- whoa!" The gloves, which were made of some sort of stretchy white material, suddenly lit up with a glowing blue ring around the wrist.

"Medical Assistance Virtual Intelligence Online," a female-sounding voice emanated from the gloves. "Please place the glove on the body of the wounded, or state the nature of your emergency." Raetor placed the glove on Itok's head, and flinched as the gloves flashed red. "Error 14: medical suite not equipped for this patient. Deploying nanites for scan. Uplinking to server to check for updates. In the mean time, please state the natuer of your emergency."

"Victim's head is split open and is bleeding heavily," Raetor said. "Bandages aren't enough to stop the bleeding."

"Understood," the gloves responded. "In the first aid kit, you will find medigel injectors marked with a blue stripe. Take the injector and place it, arrow facing down, on the victim's skin near the wound." Larix tossed one of the injectors to Ultina, who placed it tip-down on Itok's head, taking care to avoid the sections where she knew his skull had been replaced with prosthetic plates. The injector hissed as it remained in contact with Itok's skin, and the thick yellow fluid inside drained. Moments later, the wound began to seal as a layer of the fluid filled the split area before hardening slightly.

"What next?" asked Raetor.

"Using the canister marked "Reinforcing Spray," remove the cap and engage the applicator from a short distance - less than ten centimetres - to help protect the sealed wound."

"What the fuck is a centimetre?" Raetor sighed and pulled the canister out, popped the cap off and sprayed a white foam over Itok's head wound while keeping a glove on Itok's skin; once the canister was depleted, the gloves flashed green. "Patient should now be stabilized. Please seek medical attention as soon as possible. Dispose of these gloves in the sealed waste tray." Raetor pulled the ill-fitting gloves off his hands and dropped them into the biohazard tray before shutting the kit. "So? What now?"

Nihlus rubbed at his fringe; the sounds of combat up top had not stopped. If anything, they were getting louder. "I have no fucking idea what's going on up there, but that sounds like artillery to me. Either way I can't imagine it's good, but we're unarmed and I'm not staying here." He pulled up his omnitool and swore. "Oh."

"What's wrong?" Ultina asked.

Nihlus raised his arm and swung the omnitool's display around to show the rest of the group the Index, the forum - search engine the tourists had been told to use, which was displaying a massive red ticker at the top.

 ** _THIS IS AN EMERGENCY BROADCAST. CERBERUS TERRORISTS ARE CURRENTLY ATTACKING DOWNTOWN MILITIA; THEY ARE BELIEVED TO BE HUNTING VISITORS FROM CITADEL SPACE. EVERYONE IS ADVISED TO SEEK SHELTER AT THE NEAREST BUNKER ASAP. VISITORS TO HARMONY ARE ADVISED TO FIND AN ESCORT TO A PROTECTED BUNKER [BLUE 5+] ASAP. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. FURTHER BROADCASTS FOUND [HERE].  
_**  
"Well, fuck," Larix said, shaking his head. "What's broadcasting?"

Nihlus tapped the link, and the display shifted to a news broadcast which was showing a camera feed from street-level. Nihlus didn't recognize the place, but he did recognize the towering war machines currently blasting away at each other with massive guns.

"- and as you can see here our Titans have engaged the hostile ones, I can't believe what I'm seeing here. This is just proof that you NEED to get to safety now, the situation is unsafe-"

"So. Uh. Who's up for sticking around here?" Raetor said quietly. "Because I wouldn't want to fight a Titan, let alone while I'm unarmed and carrying this poor bastard around," he said, pointing at Itok.

Larix pulled up a map on his omnitool and flicked around it. "Nearest bunker is about three blocks away, and the closest military bunker is, shit, pretty far."

"We make our way to the first bunker and go from there," Nihlus said. "Come on, we gotta move."

The group made their way up and out of the capsule hotel, which was, as far as Nihlus could tell, entirely empty (although it had been more or less empty when they'd arrived, if he was being fair.) As they neared street level, the booming sounds of heavy weapons fire echoed through the streets, and the night sky was filled with the flashing afterimages of distant explosions; Nihlus said nothing and merely motioned in the direction of the bunker they'd settled on as their first stop. They ran through the streets at a steady pace, going as fast as Larix could with Itok slung over his shoulder, and despite being unfamiliar with the back streets and alleys they were taking they arrived at a small cafe with a stairway built into the side of the entrance, marked with a small trapezoidal symbol with a 'B' inside. They made their way down the stairwell, entered a set of airtight doors and found themselves standing in front of a reinforced hatch with a small keypad on it. Nihlus stepped forward, pressed the "communication" button on the keypad and leaned in to face the small camera port. "Hello? Anyone there?"

"Holy shit," someone responded over the speaker. "You guys are from the Citadel? What the fuck are you people doing out there? Get in!" There was a buzzing sound, and the hatch hissed open. Nihlus and his group quickly ran inside as the hatch was sealed behind them and found themselves in front of a heavily fortified defensive position covered in manned turrets of various sizes and protected by glowing blue shields of some sort. The binaries and humans manning the defensive line were all wearing civilian clothes and the humans ranged from - if Nihlus was correct - young adults to senior citizens. A humanoid binary wearing a chef's apron beckoned at the group from behind the gun emplacements, and Nihlus' group followed through the next few rooms, each one crammed with increasing numbers of defensive emplacements, firing slits and automated turrets. Four rooms later, they were ushered up a short flight of stairs, past another hatch and into a communal room of some sort which was full of civilians. Most were seated, chatting cheerfully or snacking on ration packs, but fell silent and began excitedly murmuring and waving when they noticed Nihlus and his group coming through. The binary in the apron led the group out of the common room and into a small medical facility, and helped Larix set Itok down on a cot.

"How's your friend doing? Looks like whatever dinged him in the head, you managed to seal it up," the binary said, clearly relieved. "Name's Paul - aren't you guys, like, special forces? Spectres, right? I was reading up on you folk."

Nihlus scratched at his fringe. "Yeah. It's not a secret or anything but we've been trying to avoid that - this was supposed to be a vacation."

"Can't have everything in life, eh? Gimme a second, alright?" The binary leaned out of the doorway and rapped it with his fist. "Oi! I need Cad or a someone with medical training. We got a salarian with a busted head here."

"Hold on," someone responded, "Cad's talking to a bunch of kids in the back - lemme help." An older human woman with a shaved head and dark skin jogged into the medical room and smiled at Nihlus' group. "Name's Aliyah - I've got some medical training" She walked on over to a station next to the cot where Itok was laying, took a boxy handheld scanner out, pulled a cable out of its handle and plugged the cable into the back of her neck. She waved it over Itok a few times, then placed the scanner on his body for a minute before unplugging the cable and setting the scanner down on a nearby table. "I'm no expert in salarian physiology but he's not bleeding or anything; I don't see any fractures or bruising. Those plates he's got in his head look dented, though." Aliyah sighed. "He'll be fine for now but I don't know how pressure on his brain is gonna work out in the long run. We could try fixing that here, but unless any of you are trained to operate on salarians I'm not comfortable with that.

Nihlus and his group introduced themselves to Aliyah and Paul, before sitting down on a nearby bench. "So, Itok's not dead or dying at this second, but he's still in trouble. What now?" Nihlus closed his eyes for a second.

Larix scowled. "I'd suggest we stay here for now, but if those Cerberus terrorists or whatever they're called are trying to kidnap aliens we'd be putting everyone here in danger."

"They don't know you're here, though," Aliayh said thoughtfully. "And I don't think those assholes up top are gunning for civilians."

"Okay, sure," Raetor said, raising a hand, "but we also need to get Itok to a proper facility to make sure he's not gonna die or have his brain all ruined- not to mention, we don't know for sure that those Cerberus people don't know that we're here. Maybe they're just tied down fighting friendly units topside - why risk the civilians in here?"

Paul placed a hand on his chin and hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "Yeah - everyone here knows how to handle a gun, but that's a far cry from being able to survive an attack by a hostile Pilot, let alone fight one off. Nearest hardened military outpost is, like, fourty-five minutes away on foot. We've got spare vehicles in the back, but even then that'll probably only cut down the time to ten minutes - and you'd have to stay low, too. There's no civilian traffic out there, meaning you'd stand out real bad."

Aliyah shrugged. "Better than staying here. If one of those Cerberus Titans decides to it could just camp outside and shoot at the bunker until it collapses. Wouldn't be a problem normally, but I'd rather not engage in guerilla fighting with a bunch of VIPs around."

"Alright, fine. Let Cad know I'm heading out. Mr. Kryik, I'll drive you and your friends here outta this mess, but we gotta get you guys geared up just in case. Come on, I'll show you to the armoury." Paul got up, unclipping his apron and tossing it over his shoulder before escorting the group past the common room and into a corridor marked 'Supply Area,' then over to a security hatch that was already open. The armoury inside was massive, easily double the size of the one on the _Lightspear_ , and the racks displayed everything from assault rifles to what Nihlus guessed were rocket launchers and other heavy ordnance. Several teenagers and even a few older children were busy taking inventory on data slates or filling magazines from boxes of railgun rounds; seeing Paul, many stopped to say hello to him and wave at Nihlus' group.

"Okay," Larix said quietly to Nihlus, "I know we have bunkers on Palaven but this is fucking insane."

"Back to work, you guys - we'll chat later," Paul said to the children before turning to Nihlus. "You guys are free to take whatever you want, but I don't know how familiar you are with our gear."

"I mean, the general idea's the same, but if you're experienced I'd be happy to let you take charge," Nihlus said. "You ex-military?"

"Yessir, Spectre Kryik," Paul said with a wide grin. "30 years in the SAAF as a combat engineer. Alright, what sort of guns do you folks normally carry?"

Paul quickly began picking out a variety of weaponry and rigging, and in less than ten minutes managed to outfit the group with shield generators and small-arms. Nihlus watched as his HUD linked up with his new weaponry and displayed readouts about the guns. _R-906RC Automatic Rail Carbine. S-306H Heavy Rail Pistol._ His shield indicator also lit up, although the charge maxed out at to 14% of what his omnitool thought constituted a basic shield. Nihlus began stuffing his new chest rig with magazines, and flexed his arms experimentally as he got used to the way it fit (which was surprisingly well) on his body. Finally, with everyone equipped and Itok in tow (over Ultina's shoulder now), Paul escorted the group to a small motor pool in the back of the bunker and entered a heavily-armoured airtruck with a turret sticking out of its top. Paul buckled himself into the driver's seat and leaned back as Nihlus slid into the gunner's control seat in the back.

"Rail HMG, works real simple. Safety is the lever switch on your right, depress the right button for aim assist, trigger to fire. Let's move!"

The truck passed through ten more security hatches before exiting out of a hidden exit built into the side of a parking garage and Paul eased the truck into the street, taking care to say near ground level. With only grounded aircars and the empty streets for company, Paul made good time, and in five minutes the group was already halfway to the outpost. Larix sighed in relief and patted Itok's unconcious body. "We're gonna make it, pal, you just wait and we'll get that stupid skull of yours back in order."

Raetor hissed. "You _bosh'tet_ , why would you say that?"

"Superstition doesn't change how things turn out," Ultina said, scanning outside of her window seat. "If shit's about to go down, Larix jinxing it won't change whether it happens or not."

Naturally, about a minute later as the vehicle was making its way through another empty intersection, a stray burst of cannon-fire blew open the side of a small apartment building. Paul groaned as a Cerberus Titan, which was in the process of attempting to punch an Alliance Titan into the ground, caught sight of the truck beyond the ruined building, snapped its head towards the truck and immediately disengaged from its fight to pursue them.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Paul swore loudly and slammed on the accelerator; thankfully, the Cerberus Titan was at least five or six city-blocks away, and as soon as Paul cleared the intersection the truck broke line of sight. "Okay, hold on," Paul said, "because this is about to get a bit hairy." The vehicle, still low to the ground, sped towards the outpost, and Paul swerved suddenly as another burst of cannon fire tore massive chunks out of several buildings. Fab-crete and steel sprayed into the air, and while only a few stray chunks of debris hit the truck itself, they did so with enough force to shunt the truck into the building to their left. The truck bounced off with a loud clang and dropped to the street. Paul had just managed to coax the truck back into the air when neon-red laser carved straight through the front of the vehicle, slicing it open and nearly cutting off Paul's outstretched arms. The truck - both parts of it, now - fell back to the ground. "Fuck, we gotta move! Out of the truck and follow me!" The group disembarked from the truck, waited for Larix to grab Itok and followed Paul into a nearby subway station. They sprinted down the stairs, and Paul paused for a second as his eyes flashed before pointing down one of the tracks. "We head that way, and we'll be right next to the outpost after five stops."

"We gonna do this on foot?" Raetor asked, taking up a firing position behind a ticket-dispenser. "I'm guessing the trains are down?"

"Well, actually, good that you mention that. With me!" The group quickly hopped over a small barrier marked "Staff Only," and descended further into the station. Within another few minutes, they arrived at a large set of double doors marked "Maintenance Access." Nihlus tried the door, which were rather unsurprisingly, locked.

"Here, let me," Paul said, kneeling next to a keypad by the door. He pried open a small access panel on the side of the keypad, pulled a cable from his arm and plugged himself into the keypad. A few seconds later, the doors chimed.

"Welcome, Test Employee," the keypad said as the doors swung open. "Please have a safe and productive day." Inside was a massive, multi-level room full of commuter trains, some mounted on loading platforms and others taken aside for maintenance. The group quickly made their way over to one of the trains on the loading racks, and took up defensive positions around Paul as he plugged himself into the nearby terminal. "Alright," said Paul, "should be no problem. Just gotta get one of the trains loaded up top, we hop in the train and take it for a ride."

"Why didn't we do this from the start?" Larix asked, covering the doorway. "Not trying to be rude, just wondering."

"Figured the train'd draw attention to us," Paul said, eyes flashing as he interfaced with the terminal. "Also, this is super illegal, but I figure if I help you guys out that'll totally make my restaurant famous. And maybe keep me out of prison, heh."

"You own a restaurant?" asked Ultina, using a workbench to support his rifle.

"What, you didn't see the apron? And yeah, I make - well, not like you'd be familiar with it, I think. Old Earth food from a country called Ethiopia - basically flatbread that's kind spongy and stew to go with it. Alright, train's up. Get in, and we'll ride it up the platform and into the subway tunnel."

The group waited for Paul to unplug himself, and followed him into the sleek, all-white subway car; once they were all onboard and in the operator's cabin, Paul flipped a few switches and the car was raised up its platform, pushed through several tubes and set onto the rails. Paul was plugged into the operator's console and was about to a spray of gunfire burst through cabin's windshield and blew a hole in Paul's right arm. As his rifle fell to the floor, Paul slapped a button and pulled a lever as he slunk to the ground, drawing his handgun with his left hand. "What the fuck was that? I didn't see what it was!"

"Enemy Pilot," shouted Nihlus, firing a burst out of the windshield as the car left the station's platform. "He was on the platform and - shit, he's still coming? He's grappled onto the car! Everyone return fire!" The entire group got out of cover and began to take shots at the Pilot who was in the process of reeling himself towards them; many of their bullets hit his shield when suddenly a swirling blue barrier appeared in front of him which seemed to catch the bullets aimed at him.

"STOP FIRING!" shouted Paul. "Get down, NOW!" The group returned to cover and Nihlus could only stare as a hail of their own railgun fire reversed and shot back towards them; Paul peeked up and swore as he aimed his pistol. "Gone?"

Nihlus popped up and scanned the well-lit tunnel behind them, and saw no movement. "Looks clear," he said, pausing to reload and taking care to keep the mostly-spent magazine. "I don't think we fought him off for real, though. Was too easy."

Paul sighed, clamped his pistol to his chest and reloaded it before holstering it; he grabbed his rifle and looked at the elbow-length stump where his right arm used to be. He sighed, and a moment later what was left of his right arm ejected itself from his chassis with a soft hiss, clattering as it hit the ground. "Yeah, I don't like this either. Probably best if we move to the front operator's cabin - we can still keep an eye on things from the cameras and whatnot."

This time, Ultina grabbed Itok, and the group moved up the empty car as stopped at an empty station; once inside the front cabin, they set Itok down inside a storage cabinet and took up their new defensive position. Paul pointed at Nihlus' omnitool and frowned. "You can link up to the frontnet on that, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Was thinking we could send a distress signal just in case. Figure that Cerberus Pilot's already alerted his buddies anyways, and it's not like this subway tunnel splits off."

"You think an open broadcast would work?" asked Nihlus.

"I guarantee it. They've probably got entire teams of overclocked spooks monitoring everything - a broadcast coming from an omnitool? They'll ping that pretty quick. Just start your broadcast with the word mayday three times and someone'll pick up on it real fast."

"Okay, here goes," Nihlus said, tapping a few buttons on his omnitool. "Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is Spectre Nihlus Kryik, Citadel Special Operations. My team and I, as well as a SAAF veteran are being attacked by hostile Cerberus forces; we're currently on a commandeered subway car on the Green Line. We're just leaving Brooks Station and are on our way to Harmony Defence Force Base Lorck via MacAllan Square Station. Message repeats." Satisfied, Nihlus tapped a few more buttons before settling down into one of the chairs in the cabin. The group sat in silence, keeping an eye on the tunnels behind them, and the car cleared two more stations before Nihlus' omnitool lit up with an incoming message.

"Spectre Kryik, this is Harmony Defense Force Operator Illuminate," came a synthesized female voice. "Message received - please disembark at Longsword Station, the last stop before MacAllan Square. Alliance forces are still engaging Cerberus troops in heavy fighting topside close to MacAllan Square and it wouldn't do for you to get squished by a Titan. A Pilot unit will be waiting to escort you to safety inside Longsword Station."

"Illuminate, this is Spectre Kryik. Understood - we'll rendevous with the Pilot at Longsword Station." He looked at the others; Paul gave him a thumbs up. "So, we're getting a Pilot escort, huh?"

"Maybe we'll get to ride a Titan," Raetor said excitedly. "You think we could hitch a ride on the back of one?"

"Don't joke about that," Paul said, wincing. "Seriously, you see Pilots rodeoing Titans in the movies and stuff and they make it look real easy. I got to ride one once during a combat drop and let me tell you, while it was nice having a wall of metal between me and the enemy it was one hell of a ride. Felt like my arm was gonna get ripped out of its socket, and I'm binary."

"I dunno," said Itok, groaning as he got up slightly from where he'd been placed in the storage cabinet. "I still wanna rid- fuck, that hurts," he said, rubbing at his head. "Feels like I got shot in the head again. I didn't get another hole in my skull, did I?"

Ultina rushed over to Itok and helped him into a seated position. "Oh, spirits, thought you were out for good."

"Shit outta luck," Itok said, grimacing. He patted around his head and felt the solidified medigel patch near the back of his head and scowled. "Fuck, I did get shot, didn't I?"

"Nah," Raetor said. "Way less exciting - we were in that tube hotel thing and part of it collapsed. Punched a hole in your head, but it also dented one of your cranial plates."

"Oh," Itok said, visibly uncomfortable. "I always wanted brain damage. Lucky me!"

"Hey, we did a scan and right now you're doing alright," Nihlus said, "at least for now."

Itok sighed. "Well, I made it out of getting two holes in my skull, what's a bit of squished brain? Anyways, where are we?"

"We're getting you to proper doc who can patch you up," Ultina said, patting him on the shoulder.

Itok leaned out of the cabinet and looked around, then shrugged. "Okay. Uh, what's with the guns? And who's that?" He gestured at Paul, who nodded back.

"PL-J6T169B02, but you can call me Paul. Nice to finally met you, Itok."

"Cool. Likewise. Nobody answered my first question?"

"Uh, yeah," Nihlus said, scratching at his fringe. "Cerberus - terrorist group - attacked the planet and are trying to kidnap us, I think? Also we're being chased by a Pilot."

Itok stared at the wall for a moment before rubbing at his eyes. "Fuck. Kind of wished I hadn't woken up, at least not yet." He sighed, and leaned back. "So? You guys want me to help out with the, you know, shooty bits?"

"Depends," Nihlus replied. "How're you feeling?"

"Not gonna lie, boss, like shit. Vision's not bad but it's a little wonky and it feels like there're a couple krogan after a weekend-long bender puking in my head. Also can't really feel my arms."

"So, not giving you a gun then," Raetor said.

"Fine by me. I'm just gon- gonna sit here, if that's fine," Itok said, slumping into the cabinet.

"Hold on, Itok, we're almost there," Paul said reassuringly.

Despite their fears, no Pilot appeared in the tunnel behind the car, and the group stopped as planned at Longsword Station; they exited the subway car to find a sumptuously-decorated interior, wood and shining chrome panneling.

"Fancy," Raetor said, weapon raised.

"Cut the chatter. Itok, you alright?" Nihlus looked back to Ultina and Paul, who were both helping Itok walk.

"Good enough," he said, blinking several times. "I think I can walk on my own." Ultina gave Paul a look, and the two let go of Itok with their arms still ready to catch him if he were to fall. Itok took a deep breath, and took a few slow steps. "Okay, I think I'm good."

The group made their way up off the platform and into the station proper, where a lone figure wearing some sort of grey-black Pilot armour that looked far bulkier than David or Jane's waved them over. The Pilot unsealed his faceplate, revealing a visage that was more scars and burns than face. "Oi, get over here."

Paul stopped in his tracks and saluted stiffly. "Pilot Zaeed? Zaeed Massani? XCE PL-J6T169B02- It's an honour to meet you, sir!"

"Oh, fuck off. Now's really not the time for that." He gestured at Itok. "Your friend alright?"

"Yeah, just a little brain damage, all good," Itok said, smirking as he wobbily walked over to a ticket dispenser, which he proceeded to lean on. "So? What's the plan?"

"I'm taking you to HDFB Central. Come on, let's get a move on - your friend needs a doc and you folk need to be somewhere safe. Follow me." The group followed the Pilot out of the station, and Nihlus could only stare as he came face-to-foot with a towering, hulking Titan that, by his estimate, was at least 35 feet tall. It turned to the group and knelt down before waving at Nihlus and his group.

"Hullo there! I'm Jessie, nice to meet you all," the towering war-machine said cheerfully. Nihlus did his best not to gawk at the small mountain of cannons which was speaking with, at least as his translator interpreted it, a charming farm-country Tritilux accent. "Here, climb up my arm, and be real careful not to fall. Be a real shame to have one of ya fall and die when you got this far," Jessie said, as a massive canister-like protrusion built into her chassis opened. "Shielded Personnel Carrier - it'll keep you folks safe while Zaeed and I get you to where you need to go."

Nihlus and the others carefully clambered up Jessie's arm and into the passenger compartment of Jessie's chassis; it was cramped, hot, and barely had enough room to fit everyone inside, but with Paul standing everybody managed to fit. The hatch sealed behind them, and through a small viewscreen placed in the cockpit Nihlus watched as Zaeed flew into the cockpit, sealed his helmet and shut the hatch. "Alright, let's move," Zaeed growled.

Nihlus simply looked at his crew as the Titan took off at a sprint through the deserted streets, shaking his head. "I can't fucking believe it."

"We're riding a Titan," Raetor said, his voice low. "I told you, boss!"

Larix punched Raetor on the arm. "Hey, doesn't count if you didn't bet on it. Itok? You doing alright?" He looked over at the salarian who was strapped into the seat across from him.

"I'm in a literal killer robot," Itok said, shaking his head, "and it sounds like a, a stereotypical farmer lady from one of the colonies. I don't know if that's weirdly cute or really, really scary. Or both. Or maybe that's the brain damage talking. Maybe this is all a dream. A really, really weird dream."

"Oh, no need for flattery," Jessie's voice said from a small speaker in the compartment. "But I do like being called cute. You hear that, Zaeed?"

"Not now, please," the Pilot responded. "My vacation was already ruined, Jess, don't make it worse."

"Okay, I'm definitely dreaming. This is way too weird to be real," Itok said, blinking several times before closing his eyes.

Their trip lasted about ten minutes, and while it certainly wasn't comfortable Nihlus figured it was better than being in a shootout. He was almost about to ask if they were close when he noticed that Jessie had stopped suddenly. "Everything okay?"

"No," Zaeed replied, clearly annoyed. "There's two fucking racks of spectres in the street around us, and a bunch of Cerb Pilots in the buildings, too. How the fuck did people miss this? Jessie, count'em while I yell at our operator. Hold on. Operator Illuminate, this is Pilot Massani - I'm looking at a small army of Spectres and at least six- no, seven hostile Pilots in the avenue 'round the corner. Interrogative, how the fu- how did nobody catch this? How copy, over?"

"Pilot Massani, this is Illuminate, solid copy. I'm not getting anything on our sat-scan, nothing on sensors, nothing on thermals. Gonna cycle the feeds and do a few checks, break." There was less than a second of silence before Illuminate came back on the line. "Break, break, priority message to all units! This is HDF Operator Illuminate - everyone needs to cycle your scanners, now! We have signs of Cerberus infiltration into our networks. Affected sectors have been cleaned and reset- ensure that you haven't let any Cerberus units slip by you! Report any missed units to your Operator, out."

"Well then," Zaeed said. "Jessie?"

"I count ninety spectres and seven hostile Pilots."

"Pfft. Fucking idiots. Alright, you folks in the back, listen up. We need to get your friend in the back to a doctor fast, right? No point sitting around letting these idiots slow us down, 'specially not with VIPs in the back. Jessie, you just tank right through the bastards. Once we're past the killzone, you unload everything towards the enemy and then you eject me right into the bastards."

"Come on, Zaeed, how come you get to have all the fun?"

"I babysit for my job - how often do I get to cut loose?"

"How often do _I_ get to cut loose, Zaeed?" Jessie grumbled, and let out a mechanical sigh. "Alright, sounds good. Passengers, please ensure you're buckled in tight."

Ultina looked blankly at the cockpit viewscreen, then at the other passengers. "I'm sorry, the two of you are going up against ninety-seven hostiles. No, wait, just you, Pilot Massani?"

"I thought you Spectres were supposed to be badasses," Zaeed shot back.

"I mean, okay, we've done the same thing before more or less," Larix said, shrugging. "Similar odds - remember Calpurnia?"

"Long as you're okay with this," Nihlus said.

"Okay? Listen, pal, I'm more than okay with this," Zaeed replied. "Enough skulking around, if you ask me. Jessie!"

"Yes, Pilot Massani?"

"Lemme at'em."

"With great pleasure." Jessie rounded the corner and charged straight through the street; several of the spectres immediately began firing at her, their small-arms fire pinging harmlessly off her reinforced barriers. The Pilots, on the other hand, wasted no time in attempting to attach themselves to her hull. Jessie responded simply by activating some sort of explosive countermeasure, and while Nihlus wasn't exactly sure what was going on, from his external feed he could see six of the Pilots immediately fire themselves away from Jessie, one Pilot was too slow. Nihlus watched as some sort of shockwave hit the Pilot, sending him flying into a nearby building, immediately followed by what appeared to be a literal wall of glowing spiked projectiles impaling him into the wall as he went limp. Jessie's cannons reloaded with an audible whirring noise, and as she cleared the street and entered the next intersection she pivoted and opened her cockpit, firing Zaeed straight back into the fight using some sort of propulsion system built into the cockpit. "Have fun, Zaeed!"

Nihlus simply watched in awe as the external feed showed Zaeed flying directly into the enemy ranks with a massive shotgun in his hands, the same deflector shield they'd seen earlier covering his body, and no less than backpack-mounted weapons firing a spray of flaming projectiles at the enemy. "Come here, you fucks," Zaeed screamed over an open channel, "you're gonna pay for ruining my time off!"

"Oh, Zaeed," Jessie said, as she sprinted and boosted away from the fight. "Well, scans show we're clear, but I'll be sure to pay extra attention just in case those Cerberus folks have any other tricks up their sleeve. You can watch Zaeed at work if you'd like," she said happily.

The feed in the passenger compartment switched to an aerial traffic camera showing Zaeed rocketing around the street so quickly that Nihlus could barely keep tabs on him. All Nihlus could see was a grey-brown blur shooting in and out of building windows; it was, frankly, easier to keep track of Zaeed by following the flaming explosives fired out of his backpack-cannons and the spectres being blown apart. By the time Jessie was three minutes away, all of the Spectres were dead and Zaeed appeared to be fighting some sort of insane mid-air battle with the enemy Pilots, a pistol in his right hand and a knife - that looked more like a short sword, really - in his left hand.

Nihlus, for the life of him, could not follow the fight in detail. Both Zaeed and the enemy Pilots were moving too fast, and at times they seemed to simply disappear into thin air and reappear somewhere else entirely.

"Okay," Itok said in awe, "how do I get to go that fast? Did he just punch his knife into that guy's helmet? How many knives does he have?"

"Oh, it's not that hard," Jessie said reassuringly. "Training's only two years!"

"That's a load of shit," Larix replied.

"Yeah," Paul said, shaking his head. "Jessie, that's got to be biggest understatement I've ever heard."

"Well, the training's pretty tough. Nihlus, though - I'd bet you'd make a good Pilot."

"What?"

"You look pretty tough to me. I have a good eye for Cadets! Been doing it for ages, you know. I pick'em real good."

"Uh. Yeah, sure, I'll take the compliment."

"No, I'm being serious," Jessie replied. "I mean, I don't know when we're going to start recruiting non-Alliance folks to be Pilots, but it's bound to happen eventually. I think you'd be a good fit."

"You're kidding."

"Only a bit," Jessie said, her tone jovial. "Well, here we are!" Jessie pivoted her chassis and knelt down; they were outside a large military base, and the compartment's hatch opened to let them over the bases's walls and onto a waiting truck. The group got up and helped Itok out, and dropped into the back of the truck. Jessie sealed the compartment, turned around, and gave a little wave and a thumbs up. "It's been lovely meeting you guys, but I have to go make sure Zaeed's not made a big mess of things! Hopefully we'll see each other again!"

They watched Jessie disappear into the distance as the truck carried them at full throttle towards the bases' medical bay, and as they disembarked and helped Itok onto a medical cart, the salarian grinned.

"She seemed very nice," he said, as they were escorted into the hospital.

* * *

 **November 17**

Itok was rushed into a separate corridor from the rest of the group; a binary nurse escorted Nihlus and the others to a small waiting room with couches, chairs and a holoscreen. "My name's Yara, and if you need anything please just use the button by the doorway. There's a bathroom across the corridor and while we don't have any dextro-safe food, water and a variety of drinks are available for free in the kitchenette a few doors down to the left. You're free to wait here or get up and stretch your legs if you'd like; please remain outside of any restricted areas."

Paul simply nodded and proceeded to plug himself into a wall charger, and Yara gave a small bow as Nihlus sank into a chair. "Spirits," Nihlus said, shaking his head. "Some fucking vacation this turned out to be."

"Next time, I pick where we're going," Ultina replied as she picked up the physical remote for the holoscreen off a table next to the couch she was sitting on. "Paul? How do I work this thing?"

"Just hit the button with the - nevermind, lemme." Paul's eyes flashed as he interfaced with the screen, and it activated, defaulting to a news channel. The broadcast was, as before, a livestream of Titans fighting in the streets of Militia; in particular, the broadcast was currently focused on two of the grey-green Alliance Titans, both smaller than Jessie, furiously engaged in close combat with six yellow Cerberus Titans. The Cerberus Titans were attempting to retreat down down what appeared to be a wide avenue, only to be thwarted each time by the two Alliance Titans ruthlessly pursuing them. The larger Titan was switching between its shoulder-mounted lasers and using some sort of gauntlet-mounted shotguns, the smaller one a long blade mounted on the end of its Titan-sized rifle. One by one, the Cerberus Titans went down to punch-blasts from the shotgun-gauntlets or stabs from the massive bayonet. Finally, only one Cerberus Titan remained, and Nihlus watched as the larger Alliance Titan suppressed the Cerberus machine with a barrage of laser fire and shotgun blasts, when suddenly the smaller Alliance Titan disappeared and reappeared right behind the Cerberus Titan, swept it off its feet with a kick, and slammed its bayonet into the grounded machine's cockpit before firing a long burst from its rifle.

"Hoo, boy," Raetor said, shaking his head. "Fleet's gonna have a fucking field day if they ever see this. I can just picture it now: Killer Robots from Space!"

"Nobody's gonna comment on the bigger one?" asked Larix. "Because if I saw that correctly, that one had, like, wrist-mounted shotguns. Spirits, how big are those pellets? Those things have to be fucking huge."

"Oh, those!" Paul nodded vigourously. "They're called shot-gauntlets, I think. Some crazy bastard designed them as a binary infantry weapon, but it didn't pass any of the close-quarters-combat trials since, you know, shotgun-hands are kind of ridiculous. But apparently Pilots liked'em enough that they started making Titan-sized ones for themselves. Never seen one being used in-person myself, but as an engineer you gotta admire them even if they're kind of stupid."

"I bet as soon as the krogan get wind of it they'll start buying them up like hot fish-steak," Ultina said, shaking her head. "Just what the galaxy needs: angry krogan whose fists are also shotguns."

"Nothing makes sense any more," Nihlus said, laying down on a nearby couch. "I'm going to need a lot of alcohol after this. Wake me up if something happens, alright?" He nodded off as the group launched into a heated discussion about weaponry, and woke up to find Larix shaking him.

"Mr. Kryik?"

Nihlus opened his eyes, found Yara in the doorway of the room again, and stood up; a quick check of the wall-mounted clock showed that nearly six hours had passed, and that it was morning now. "Nurse Yara," he said, "how's Itok doing?"

"I'm happy to say that he's in excellent condition," Yara said, smiling. "We're just pulling him off the anesthetic now, so if you'd like to follow me you can speak to him in person as he wakes up."

They followed the nurse past a few corridors and into a room marked "Post Operations Room - Decon Area" and made their way inside to find a small room with a sealed hatch at the far end, and a section cordoned off by an opaque wall. The wall transitioned into transparency as the group crossed the doorway to reveal a human doctor and another nurse standing around Itok's body, which lay in a bed. The nurse, a human man, waved them over and turned to greet them. "Ah, excellent timing. Mr. Kazus will be awake in just a moment." True to form, Itok's lifeless body flinched and his eyes opened as he attempted to sit up; a binary nurse held him in place gently.

"Wooooah that was weird," Itok said, as he lay back into the cot.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Kazus? How are you feeling?" asked one of the doctors.

"Really good, actually," Itok said, looking around. "Hey! Nihlus! Guys! Is it cool if I sit up?"

"Yes, but try not to move too quickly. Everything should be healed nicely but that's no reason to risk anything," the doctor replied. One of the nurses eased Itok into a sitting position, and patted around his head.

"Man, feels like nothing ever happened," Itok said, patting his forehead. "How bad was it?"

"It wasn't that difficult," the doctor said, "save for the part where we operated on a species we have no experience in dealing with." The woman turned to Nihlus and clasped arms with him. "Doctor Marawa, a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you for operating on Itok," Nihlus said, shaking her hand next. "I know it was a lot to ask."

"Honestly," Doctor Marawa said thoughtfully, "it wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would. We did have several medical documents provided by the salarian government, and we also contacted a few doctors that happened to be part of the visiting group from the Citadel. With their help and the work of our surgeons we managed to handle things fairly quickly. The real issue was checking if our chemicals would cause any unwanted interactions - anyways, I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that everything worked out." She turned to Itok, and grinned. "We opened your head up, excised the dented section of plating, and filled the hole in with a similar material. After that we sealed you up, and everything was as good as new."

"Okay, that's pretty awesome." Itok said, nodding slowly. "I should probably mention that whatever drug you used to put me under gave me the weirdest dreams. Like, the kind you get on sleeping aids? Is that a thing in the Alliance?"

"That's...odd," Doctor Marawa said. "We'll need to have you check in daily from this point on to ensure there aren't any lasting side-effects from any of the drugs we used during the procedure - and yes, some sleep aids available to civilians are known to cause bizarre dreams."

"Cool. So? What's the plan now, doc?"

"We'll need you to stay here for about another hour; technically the effects of our anesthetics should be wearing off in the next few minutes, but just to be sure we'd like to keep you under observation for a while. After that, you'll be free to go, so long as the situation outside has improved."

True to her word, Itok was released exactly an hour later, and as Itok came out of a bathroom wearing a new set of clothes provided to him by the hospital before joining the rest of the group in the waiting room. "So! That was fun," Itok said, grinning madly.

"You and I have very, very different ideas of fun," Nihlus said, sighing. "Come on, we've got to figure out what we're supposed to do now."

* * *

"HDF Operator Overseer, this is Pilot Shepard and Titan KN," Jane said. "Third sector sweep complete, awaiting further instructions."

"Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, this is Overseer. Secondary units are on-site and will take over operations from here. Return to base and return your equipment as necessary. Debrief will be at 0930. If you need to contact someone the Operator channel is open; it's been an honour working with you. Overseer, out."

"Finally," Jane said, leaning back in the cockpit chair. "Some vacation - I know we have to be thorough and all but we've been out here for hours."

"Nobody wants to be the one who left a bunch of those sneaky bastards sneak off into the sewers or something," GB said from across the street.

"Honestly, I thought it was kind of weird," Lee said over comms as GB waved them over from around an intersection. "No consistency. Half of those Pilots fought like trainees, and the other half were a real pain in the ass."

"Maybe Cerberus is having trouble finding recruits? Still doesn't answer the question of how they got all those Pilots and spectres planetside without anyone noticing, not to mention the planetary tacnet being compromised," KN said sourly. "High Command is probably shitting itself right now. Hell, I'm kind of freaked out by this."

"Doesn't help that nobody knows what the hell those Cerb fuckers were planning," GB said, nodding her chassis. "They kill the aliens, we'd kill'em all anyways, so what? Were they trying to make us look bad? And it's not like, you know, they could move any people offworld if they kidnapped any."

"Let's leave to our spooky friends here," Lee said, as GB's patted KN's chassis' shoulder with a loud clang. "We're paid to shoot things, not think about why."

The two pairs began to head back through the streets of Militia towards HDF Base Central, taking care to avoid the massive piles of debris and rubble left behind by hours of intense fighting. While the streets were still far emptier than a morning in downtown Militia would usually be, there was still a sizable amount of civilians, soldiers and emergency responders all working in the streets. Most were at work clearing wreckage from the streets or patching up holes in apartments and houses, though some emergency responders were busy putting out small fires that automated fire suppression systems hadn't caught. They all stopped briefly, however, to wave and cheer at the Titans as they passed by. They waved back, but maintained their pace and by 0800 were back at the front gate entrance of HDF Base Central. The front of the base was a swarm of activity; convoys of SAAF regulars and reserves were boarding vehicles and lifting off into the morning sky.

After a quick inspection by one of the groups of soldiers stationed at the front gate, they were let into the base itself and returned to the Titan pool located near the garages. Soon enough, they returned their borrowed chassis to their stations, and after they were locked into the docking cradle Jane finally let herself relax before flicking through her HUD and flipping manual switches to power down the Titan chassis. Without even paying attention, the shutdown was complete in under a minute and Jane popped the cockpit open before sliding out and onto the hangar floor. Seconds later, the infantry-cradle built into the bottom of the Titan chassis hissed open, and KN's infantry rig popped out as its faceplate lit up with a steady green. The pair walked out in front of the chassis as various cables and arms built into the docking cradle began plugging into ports all over the chassis and were joined by GB and Lee when Jane's HUD lit up.

"Pilots, Titans, this is Jon. Debrief is in twenty minutes, same room we met in originally. If you can get there early, do it - I want this to be over with as fast as possible."

"And I was hoping to strip outta kit, have a shower and a proper meal," Lee said, scowling.

"Plenty of time for that after," KN replied, as the four left the hangar floor and returned to the armoury. Several soldiers were busy taking gear from the returning Pilots and Titans before placing them in carts and passing them over to the maintenance area; a binary soldier waved them to their station and placed two cases in front of the group.

"Pilots, just place your borrowed weapons, magazines, and gear in these. Titans, you can just use the fitting station by the wall over there; the station will sort the gear for you."

"Don't we have to submit a report?" asked Jane. "Ammunition expended, gear used, condition log?"

"We'll take care of it," the binary soldier said, flashing their lights. "I'm sure you folk have better things to do than file paperwork."

"Man, I wish the CT would do our paperwork for us," said KN as he and GB hooked themselves into the fitting station. "Would save me a lot of trouble."

After they finished returning the last of their borrowed equipment, they made their way out of the armoury, up the main stairwell and arrived at the briefing room shortly after. Most of the Pilots and Titans were already there, and Jon, SN, and Karen were all standing at the front; a few other officials that Jane didn't know were standing to the side, and her HUD indicated that they were all part of the Ministry of Defense's Upper Cabinet. Jon waited for a few more people to filter into the room over the course of the next few minutes before motioning to SN, who proceeded to walk to podium at the front of the room. She rapped her knuckles on the side of the podium, and the room immediately went silent.

"Alright, settle down," SN said. "I know we're all itching to eat, have a drink, whatever. Personally I'm tired as shit so let's make this quick, 'kay? Debrief is gonna be run by Jon and I - we'll go over events, you folks pitch in if you have something smart to contribute. We're also joined by several members of Minister Hackett's cabinet; they're here to gather as much info at the source as possible, so don't heistate to participate. We'll also need full AARs from all of you." She paused as all of the Pilots and Titans in the room audibly groaned or complained, and let the grumbling continue for a few seconds before banging on the desk again. "Yes, I get it, paperwork is boring. Deal with it. Standard AAR template is fine. Once you're done, submit it to your cadre leader or equivalent. Clear?"

The room made a noise that SN took as assent, and she nodded. "Alright. As we discussed during our initial meeting, we confirmed that Cerberus stole military transports and converted them into makeshift personnel carriers. From there, they proceeded to attack us in waves, attempting to push through to Civil Square and beyond, where most of the foreign diplomats and visitors from the Citadel were being protected. They were successfully repulsed and were being pushed back when, at 0145 Cerberus carriers 'ported into Harmony space. Those carriers proceeded to rush for planetside via crash, offloading Titans and spectres to reinforce their allies on the ground. From there, the battle shifted to a running Titan fight throughout Core. The last confirmed Cerberus kill was at 0553; after that we switched over to sweep for S&D operations."

"I'm happy to report," Karen continued, "that there are no confirmed casualties from the diplomats and other VIPs sent by the Citadel. As far as we're aware, there were only two casualties among the Citadel's civilian visitors, although twelve sustained serious injuries and fifty-six were lightly wounded. Six are also still unaccounted for, but search efforts are ongoing. Casualty reports for our own civilians are surprisingly good - hard numbers are still coming in but the brunt of casualties were caused not by combat but by falling debris, collapsing buildings, et cetera. Moving on..."

The briefing ended up only taking about twenty minutes, most of which was taken up by troop movements and questions about how Cerberus was able to pull the operation off. They were in the process of finishing up the briefing when Jane's HUD lit up with an incoming message; she accepted the call as KN glanced at her, and a readout displaying "Secure Tactical Network Transmission" appeared in the top-right of her view.

"Pilot Shepard, Titan KN," came Captain ED's voice. "Are you still in briefing?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jane replied via subvocal. "Is everything alright?"

ED sighed. "No, but it could be a lot worse. High Command's not coming down hard on the IS, but they're certainly not impressed - I get the feeling we've just burned through a lot of the leeway we've been building up. As soon as you're done your briefing, get over to the IS building downtown - we're needed for a meeting with Director Harper and several other of the SAAF brass."

"Understood, Captain," KN replied. "Meeting's just wrapping up - we'll be there soon."

After the meeting finished, Jane and KN said their goodbyes to GB and Lee before heading down to the motor pool and catching a ride with a Militia convoy; about half an hour later, they arrived at a massive silver tower in the heart of downtown. The area was a hive of activity, and swarms of office workers and IS employees were making their way around the plaza surrounding the building itself. Making their way into the building proper, they pair had barely set foot past the front door before a security guard with prosthetic eyes whisked them to the side.

"Pilot Shepard, Titan KN? No need to get through that," he said, pointing at the line of employees and agents slowly moving through the security corridor towards the actual entrance. He escorted them past the line and ushered them through one of the scanners placed by the building entrance. Jane's HUD lit up as soon as she stepped into the scanning area with a flurry of warnings and interface messages, and the guard posted at the scanner nodded at her.

"Sorry ma'am," she said. "Just a formality."

"Do we need to surrender our firearms?" asked KN, who was in the scanning station next to Jane's.

"No need," the guard said. "Just go on through - you can't miss the elevator. 134th floor - you'll know where to go."

The pair passed the security cordon and entered into a long corridor with a series of reinforced hatches; the hatches only opened one at a time, and Jane noticed several panels in the ceiling that her suit picked up as containing sentry guns and various non-lethal containment devices. It took nearly a minute and a half to pass through this corridor, and when the last hast opened the two were greeted with an open lobby whose roof was almost impossible to see from the ground floor; the lobby itself was plainly furnished with the same silver-gunmetal aesthetic as the tower itself. Several elevators were built into the walls, many of them full of IS employees, and the cab they ended up taking was nearly full.

"Hiya," KN said, as they entered the elevator. Several employees simply stared at the duo, and only a few greeted them. "What? Did I do something?"

"I dunno," Jane said, chuckling. "I get the feeling that a Pilot and Titan in full combat gear carrying loaded firearms isn't exactly a common sight." The other employees all laughed, and KN sighed.

"Sorry if we seem a little shocked," one of the employees said. "This isn't exactly how I imagined meeting an IS Pilot and Titan - certainly not in an elevator at work. Also, uh,-"

"-KN-"

"-Titan KN, you have blood on your chassis."

"Really? Shit, thought I got all of it."

The elevator ride was over in a minute or so, and the floor they got off at seemed to only have a single room on it. Jane knocked on the door as KN swiveled his head 180and attempted to scrub off a rather large patch of dried blood stuck underneath one of his back-mounted armour plates. "Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, reporting for meeting."

The door opened to reveal Miranda, standing near the door; the interior was a conference round table, though of the dozen or so seats at the table only four were filled. Jane recognized Director Harper, Captain ED and Defense Minister Stephen Hackett, but not the other occupant, a woman wearing an unmarked SAAF uniform. Miranda ushered them in, and the pair both saluted as the seated occupants stood up.

"At ease," Director Harper said, waving a lazy hand at them. "Come have a seat." He waited until they had sat down at the table before nodding at the pair across the table.

"Stephen Hackett, Defense Minister," the greying man said, shaking Jane and KN's hands across the table. "A pleasure to meet you two."

"Agent Nimue Chao, Special Operations Command, Internal Security, Anomalous Operations." She nodded at Jack before sighing. "Get them up to speed, Jack - I need a minute anyways to figure out what I'm going to say."

"Fair enough. First," Jack said, smiling warmly, "a job well done. I have it on good authority that the two of you logged upwards of seventeen Pilot-Titan kills. I'm no Pilot myself, but I think the popular saying is 'good hunt?' In any case, you two aren't here to be disciplined; the failure to anticipate this attack falls more on my end than yours."

"No need to be hard on yourself, Jack," Stephen said, chuckling.

"No need to soften the blow," Director Harper replied.

"The point is," Minister Hackett continued, "is that nobody - well, almost nobody - saw this attack coming, and by the time we did get advance warning it was essentially too late. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, you two are here because the SAAF needs the IS, and more specifically, the _Demeter_ to carry out several operations related to this attack and its fallout. I figured it'd be a good idea to bring you two in now, considering your roles."

"Sir, we taking the fight to Cerberus?" asked KN.

"If we're lucky, yes," Jack said, shaking his head. "We'll be following leads provided by some of our best operatives, as well as intel we've been mining from the Cerberus troops we've captured so far. All of the proposed operations I've seen so far will, in one way or another, involve direct confrontations with Cerberus operatives. In any case, I've already briefed Captain ED and XO Lawson on them, and you can discuss those later."

"That can't be it, Director - you could have told us that via the Captain," KN said, cocking his head.

"Oh for fu- KN!" Jane punched him in the arm; ED, Stephen and Nimue all laughed, Jack smirked, and Miranda audibly sighed. "Apologies, Director."

"No, no, it's fine," Jack said, waving a hand magnanimously. "I appreciate the candor - you're not here to give a presentation, so don't worry about it. You're here for two reasons: one, to have the importance of your upcoming operations impressed upon you by Minister Hackett, and two, to discuss certain matters with Agent Chao here."

"Mmm." Hackett nodded and sighed. "I'll be honest with you in the same way I was with your Captain and Director Harper - there are a select few in High Command who are very, very, very unhappy with the IS right now. Not many, mind you, but frankly this is more or less the first time I've seen friction between the SAAF and IS, at least in my lifetime. Still, there's a lot of rapport between the two organizations and the vast majority of High Command is being understanding. The bigger issue is how the Citadel takes this - Contact Minister Goyle and several others are upset that we essentially let an attack on our homeworld slip by while the Citadel is still negotiating with us. What this amounts to in practical terms is that we _need_ a victory against Cerberus if we want the SAAF and SAIS to come out of this unscathed. Need. Understand?"

"Yes sir," Jane and KN said.

"Excellent. I don't know you two personally, but more than a few people have spoken very highly of you two - I wish you the best of luck. Nimue?"

The woman sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "How much do you two know about my job? What do you think my job entails? No need to be formal."

"Weird shit?" KN said, shrugging.

"Spot on," Nimue said as the room erupted into laughs. "No, really. Anomalous Operations says it all."

"Weird though," Jane said, scratching her head. "I looked at InSec when I was just an SAAF regular, and it was standard state sec stuff. I thought anomaly stuff was more the Exploration Fleet's thing?"

"You're not wrong," Nimue said. "Their job is to find and research anomalies, artifacts and the like. Our section is much more concerned with the practical applications of, ahem, "exotic anomalous materials and their interactions with temporal and spatial integrity."

The room remained silent for a moment as Jane and KN looked at each other before Jane's eyes went wide.

"Oh no. Not just weird shit," KN said as his faceplate flashed.

"Weird time shit," Jane said, shaking her head slowly. "Fantastic. No offense, Agent Chao, but I want absolutely nothing to do with, you know, holes in the fabric of reality."

"That's a fair stance to have. A good one, for most people," Nimue replied thoughtfully. "Nonetheless, you don't really have that much of a say in the matter. During combat earlier today, Pilot Zaeed Massani - your old instructor, if I'm correct? - wounded a Cerberus Pilot and attempted to capture her alive. The Pilot in question managed to slush her brain with a cranial explosive, but before that she attempted to use one of these." Nimue plugged a cable in from her neck port into the table, and the centre holo lit up with an image of some of wrist-mounted device. "Recognize this?"

"Can't say that I do," Jane said. KN shrugged, and Jane could see that both Miranda and ED were equally confused - but both Jack and Stephen had looks on their faces that were a mix of anger, fear and confusion.

"How in the FUCK did Cerberus get their hands on a PTD?" Stephen scowled and scratched at his greying beard for a moment. "It doesn't make sense."

"Please tell me it was just the one Pilot who had that," Jack said, rubbing his forehead. "Please, Nimue."

"It was just the one. Not that Cerberus having a PTD in the first place is any cause for celebration."

"Okay, anyone wanna fill us in?" asked KN.

"This," Nimue said, her tone now deadly serious, "is a Portable Temporal Destabilizer. I'm not going to sit here and explain the exact science of how it works, because if I did we'd be here for years. Long story short: this thing lets you time travel."

"What." KN looked at the others in the room and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I'm with KN here - excuse me?" Miranda was almost out of her seat, her expression one of total confusion.

"Like...from _Titanfall 2: Typhon_? You know, where Pilot Cooper puts on the, what did they call it, the 'Temporal Manipulation Device?' They made that up for the movie," Jane said, furrowing her brow. "Time anomalies exist, but basically every study - trust me, KN and I went over this on a bet - say you can't go through'em without dying, or at least getting torn apart and spit into multiple dimensions and timelines at once or something."

Nimue simply shrugged. "What happened on Typhon then?"

"Basic history, Agent Chao," Captain ED said, her expression neutral. "Pilot Cooper entered the facility on Typhon were work on a prototype Ark was being carried out, intending to find one Major Anderson, who had infiltrated the area previously. He had to make his way through several areas that were heavily infested by wildlife and was surprised to find the facility was covered in temporal anomalies, which also happened to kill Major Anderson."

Jack and Stephen both looked at each other; Jack nodded, and Stephen cleared his throat. "Go ahead, Agent Chao."

"It's not that complicated," Nimue said, shrugging again. "The public story is more or less correct, except that Major Anderson also had a prototype PTD, which Pilot Cooper ended up using. After the conclusion of the Liberty War, temporal technology continued to be developed. Covertly, of course."

"What." KN shook his head. "That's ridiculous. How- how does that - that makes no fucking sense. What about, you know, causality and stuff? Hell, we have chrono and reality anchors to stop us Pilots and Titans from - I can't believe I'm saying this - travelling through time."

"The product of years of research on Precursor technology." Nimue's tone was somber, and her expression at once sad and proud. "The Alliance - and the Militia - lost a lot of people to this project. The IMC, the Fold Wars - the casualty count from the experimentation required to produce a stable, consistent and most of all, remotely safe version of the PTD dwarfs that of quite a few wars in our history, Titan KN."

"The fact that you don't believe this is a good thing," Jack said, nodding. "The point is, this information was made classified centuries ago, predating the Colour-Number system we started using during the Fold Wars, and it's even more heavily classified today. There's a reason none of you have heard of this technology, and frankly I'm glad. Means our OPSEC is holding up. You four are being cleared to know about this because your new primary goal is to figure out how Cerberus was able to produce a working version of a PTD. After the destruction of Typhon, the Militia guarded every scrap of information it could find on temporal technology, and by the days of the Alliance we'd scrubbed damn near every IMC network of related information. It's possible that they could have retained manufacturing information and simply lacked the resources until now - but I don't buy that. Damn near three centuries without the Alliance ever figuring out where they operate from, let alone how or with whose help? No, I think they didn't figure out how to construct PTDs until recently, and considering that only one of their Pilots had such a device I'm inclined to believe that they're testing them out right now."

"Which leads to your new top priority," Minister Hackett said gravely. "The last thing we need right now is a damn war being fought with Cerberus across time itself, and with our total lack of information about Cerberus and its goals, their possession of temporal manipulation technology poses an existential threat to the Alliance. Priority one for the Demeter is simple: figure out what the hell Cerberus is up to, and gather enough information so the Alliance can stop them before they can mass produce these damn things," he said, pointing at the holo. "Now, High Command isn't going to make the Demeter fly around space looking for Cerberus without any leads to follow; the Demeter was already scheduled to be refit and reassigned to work with the Joint Special Operations Teams on joint exercises with the Citadel and that's not going to change - not at the moment. However, once the IS or any other branch gathers enough intel and comes up with a cleared operation, if the Demeter is the closest ship available you will be following up on those leads. Understood?"

"Of course, Minister Hackett," ED said, nodding. "The Demeter will be ready whenever it is needed, and we hope to prove its unique capabilities with aplomb."

"Good. Good." Stephen leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment before sitting upright again. "I know we're putting a lot of pressure on the Demeter and her crew, but we wouldn't be doing so if we didn't think you could handle it. Any questions or concerns?"

"I assure you, the _Demeter_ and its crew are more than ready to serve," ED replied. "I am concerned, however, with the possibility of facing, ah, time-manipulating Cerberus agents in open combat. Our CT is well trained and led by very capable individuals," she continued, gesturing at Jane and KN, "but unless I'm mistaken nobody aboard our ship is trained to handle these situations beyond 'run away as fast as possible.' Yes, the _Demeter_ is very good at making hasty retreats, but I'm not going to place all my trust in a single system aboard a single ship. Even if it is the ship I captain."

"I have to echo that sentinment," Miranda said, nodding.

"I'm afraid there's not much I or the rest of the Anomalous Operations can do at this moment in terms of hands-on training," Nimus replied, frowning. "Data on temporal combat tactics is near nonexistent, and the data available is centuries out of date - and generally classified at a level that you four aren't cleared for. Still, I've prepared reports and tailored some basic sims around the clearance of the _Demeter_ 's crew. Frankly, I don't expect you to come across Cerberus forces with PTDs, but if you do I recommend falling back and leaving."

"Clearance aside, Agent Chao, is there a reason why, say, we couldn't be issued PTDs? I'm getting the sense that the only way to combat someone wielding a...portable time travel watch thing, for lack of a better way of saying it, is to be carrying one yourself," KN said.

"Even if you were cleared to carry one, it takes a long, long time to learn how to use one," Nimue replied. "And make no mistake, all the years spent researching the applications and effects of time travel, all the successes in developing working equipment, all the testing both in controlled environments and in the field - none of that has made the technology any safer on a fundamental level. In any case, the _Demeter_ is not being pushed into combat operations - there's no need to engage the enemy if intel is all you're after. There are operatives trained to deal with handling these situations, just as you excel in your own fields. You mentioned not wanting anything to do with the holes in reality, Pilot Shepard?"

"Yeah," Jane replied as confidently as possible.

"Well, it's the right attitude to have when you get anywhere close to a device that opens those holes, let alone strapping one to your body."

The meeting continued after that, though little of it concerned Jane or KN. It wasn't until about an hour later that the meeting was more or less concluded, when Jack turned to face the two. "Last but certainly not least," Jack said, "we need to discuss increasing the size of the _Demeter_ 's Combat Team. Given recent events, Minister Hackett and I thought it best to improve the selection of recruits available to you. To that end, several Special Operations branches were able to find possible transfers, so please be sure to check your rosters carefully."

"Of course, Director."

"Thank you. Minister Hackett, Agent Chao and I will remain here to discuss other issues; if you have any other questions or concerns please feel free to message me. Agent Chao, Minister Hackett, anything to add?"

"Nothing to add," Stephen said. "Captain ED, XO Lawson, best of luck. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, good hunting."

"I'll just repeat myself," Nimue continued. "Read the briefings I gave you very, very, very carefully, and try not to scare the rest of your crew too much."

* * *

She paused for a moment, then smirked. "Next time we meet, let me know if you remember this part of our conversation - just a little thing we agents do for fun."

* * *

"If that's all, you're dismissed." Jack nodded at the group, and smiled as they left the room. Miranda shut the door, and they all looked at each other, then around the hallway, then back at each other before making their way to the nearest elevator and taking it to the ground floor. They said nothing until they were in Miranda's personal car - which she scanned no less than fifteen times - before getting inside.

"Where to? We'll do a crew-wide debrief by tacnet," Miranda said calmly.

"If it's alright, I think KN and I would like to go home," Jane replied. "We've had a long two days."

"Of course." Miranda set the car on autopilot, and waited until they were in the air to pass around a private link cable with four plugs; they each took one and jacked into the private group comm and were immediately beset by a wailing noise coming from KN. He continued for a few seconds before clearing his throat and sighing, dimming his faceplate lights.

"Sorry, Captain, XO." He looked as sheepish as he could, and sighed again. "I think I needed to have a loud, public existential breakdown about an hour ago."

"Nothing to apologize for," ED said, shaking her head. "I think we were all feeling the same way."

"Frankly I'm not sure I want to read those briefings," Miranda said, shuddering. "Not just because I find the idea of them terrifying, but also because we're not even privy to all the pertinent information, apparently. What's so threatning that it can't be included in a document that is _literally_ about time travel?"

"You sure you want to ask that question?" Jane simply blinked several times as she stared out the window. "Also, she mentioned 'temporal combat tactics.' I am a Pilot and just thinking about the implications of that phrase is going to give me nightmares."

"Well, in any case, it appears we have a lot more work ahead of us than we planned," ED said, scowling, "and Miranda and I didn't even get the two-day vacation we were promised. Well, enjoy yourselves - it's 1142, and we'll start the briefing via tacnet at 1700. Get some rest, think about how you want to tell the CT about their new members. Keep the time thing under wraps for now, please; Miranda and I will come up with something more concrete while we're back at the IS base. Otherwise, the schedule's the same."

"Understood, Captain," KN replied.

The rest of the ride passed in silence, and when they arrived at Horizon Towers Jane and KN unpluged themselves and exited the vehicle. They watched it go, and entered the building's lobby. Jane didn't recognize the binary working the front desk, but waved and said hello anyways as they passed through the doors. They'd barely made it beyond the doors and onto the carpeted floor when the concierge drew a sidearm of some sort and aimed it at them. "Stop right there," she said, "or prepare to get volted!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jane said, raising her hands. "Let's not shock anyone, okay? I've had a long day and would really prefer not to wind up in a hospital or anything."

"Wait a second," the binary said, squinting. "Are those- you're wearing - are you a Pilot? Ohmygosh, are you a Titan?"

KN looked at Jane, hands still raised. "Uh, yeah. She's a Pilot, and she lives here."

"Okay, wow, uh, oh wow." The binary stowed the stungun on her hip and bowed slightly. "Sorry about that. It's just been a little tense lately, what with the, you know, Cerberus folks and all. Um. Sorry?"

"It's fine," KN said, shrugging. "Probably wouldn't have hit either of us, to be honest. We all good?"

"Yeah, of course! Um also you, uh, Mr. Titan, you have blood on your right arm, beneath your shoulderplate."

"Fuck." KN turned to Jane as the two made their way over to the elevator. "Did you know about this? We just met with not only XO ice-queen and the Cap, but also our boss, his boss and some sort of time-traveling megaspy and you didn't tell me?"

"Hey, I didn't notice, and it's not my fault you didn't get all the crud off of you," Jane replied as the two got into the elevator. "My job's to keep you alive, not check to see if you've washed in all the hard-to-reach bits."

"I really hope nobody else saw," KN said, shaking his head. "Mighta just lost a chance at a promotion."

"Promotion? Where's there to go for a Pilot?"

"Ahh," KN said as the elevator reached the 92nd floor and its doors opened. He walked into the apartment after Jane, strode over to the still-open window where they'd jumped out of so many hours earlier, and waved his hands majestically. "You are content with being a warrior, but good sir KN dreams only of a cushy desk job where I get to delegate all the work and sit on my ass all day."

"You let Miranda hear that," Jane said as she unclipped her helmet from her belt and tossed it onto the kitchen counter, "and you'll be on your ass all day in the sims."

"What is this, no-fun-allowed time?" KN ambled over to the corner of the living room and detached his armour plates and combat rigging, stacked them in the corner and walked over to the couch; he sat on the floor, ejected his sidearm from his infantry chassis, unloaded the magazine and carried it over to a safe in the kitchen. "So? What's the plan? We've got five hours before debrief, and it's not like we have to actually leave the apartment for it."

Jane walked into her bedroom, stripped out of her Pilot Suit and unplugged her jump kit, massaging her lower back around the now-empty ports. "I am going to have a shower, change into my pajamas and order delivery. Then I am taking a nap, we are having the briefing, and then we are going out with Lee and GB and attempting to forget about the existential horror of time travel shit before reading that briefing."

"Do Lee and GB know about this?"

"You call'em - I gotta use the bathroom."


	23. 5-3: AO BRIEFING, STG BRIEFING, CREDITS

**THIS DOCUMENT IS CLASSIFIED: UNIVERSE-TYPHON (MINIMUM EQUIVALENT W/ AUTHORIZATION RED ONE)**  
 **EYES ONLY**  
 **REDACTED SECTIONS REQUIRE CLEARANCE DIMENSION-TYPHON (MINIMUM EQUIVALENT GOLD ONE + KHRONOS)**  
 **WARNING: LETHAL IC ATTACHED**

 _SYSTEMS ALLIANCE ARMED FORCES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND_  
 _INTERNAL SECURITY DIVISION FOUR: ANOMALOUS OPERATIONS_

 _EXTERNAL BRIEFING_  
 _BASIC PROTOCOL RE: ANOMALOUS OPERATIONS AND ACTIVITIES_  
 _DATE: [REDACTED] - [REDACTED]_  
 _APPROVED FOR RELEASE: [REDACTED]_

 _AUTHORS: [REDACTED] , [REDACTED], AGENT K.A, [REDACTED], AGENT N.C, AGENT J.N_

 _WARNING: THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS BLACK-GRADE INTRUSION COUNTERMEASURES. ATTEMPTS AT UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE LETHAL FORCE RESPONSE._  
 _CONTINUE? Y_

 _AUTHENTICATING. STAND BY._  
 _CONNECTING TO HOST. NEURAL LINK ESTABLISHED. ACTIVATING SIGNAL WORM / HIJAK / NERVE INFESTOR / MINDBREAK / COMADEV / L-ELIMINATOR / TRAUMATIX / NERUOGONE._  
 _USER ESTABLISHED: R1-G2 PILOT J.S. CLASSIFICATION: RED ONE_  
 _AUTHORIZATION COMPLETE. DEACTIVATING IC._

 _TABLE OF CONTENTS:_  
 _i: FOREWORD_  
 _I: INTRODUCTION_  
 _II: SURVIVAL_  
 _III: RETREAT_  
 _IV: STABILIZATION_  
 _V: RECOVERY_

 _i: FOREWORD_

There's a stone monument at the entrance to Anomalous Operations' HQ. Nobody remembers who put it there, but we've decided to keep it. As far as monuments go, it's a simple one - just a square, stone slab with an engraving on it.

 _"None withstand time. If you would be a god, step forth and be shamed."  
_  
Keep this in mind as you begin your training as part of AO, along with a few basic rules:

1\. Never forget that you are part of a team. Work together, survive together.

2\. Always keep in mind who we're working to protect; never lose sight of the fact that our job is to safeguard the people.

3\. If anyone offers to show you time before 2960BFP, don't. You'll thank me later.

That is all.

\- Director A.K

I: INTRODUCTION

[Pg. 4 / 600]

... to put it more simply, you can think of the relation between time and space as a balance-board or see-saw. The Universe does not like being fucked around with, and it _will_ make that very clear if you ignore the warning signs. In practice, this means that, at the time of writing, our knowledge can be summarized thusly: one can only manipulate time a certain amount in a given area before space responds by acting anomalously. Vice-versa, manipulating space too much will result in anomalous temporal activity. If you'd like to observe this happening in real-time, there are no shortage of videos displaying temporal anomalies, mostly caused by malfunctioning Ark Engines. This is because Ark Engines are a giant middle-finger to physics; repeatable, yes, easily reverse-engineered Precursor technology, yes, consistent, also yes. But you cannot deny that AE technology is fundamentally inconsistent with non-Precursor science.

If you think of Ark Engines as a violation of "space," by following the rules above we can assume that enough violation of the concept of "space" will result in a correction to balance it out - in the form of temporal anomalies. Thankfully, Ark Engines working in proper order do not violate space enough to cause issues. Take this in reverse, and you can see the dangers of utilizing time travel. Disrupt temporal stability enough, and the universe will correct the area the disruption is occurring in via spatial distortion. For obvious reasons, this phenomena is kept under wraps; with your new access, we can provide examples. For example, [REDACTED] caused enough destabilization that it permanently destroyed [REDACTED] and left the area nigh-impossible to navigate for several years. Even on a smaller scale, minor "corrections" can destroy planets, disrupt the alignment of entire systems, and generally pose serious threats to all life.

Thankfully, it would appear that risks of temporal or spatial corrections are limited to the system-level in terms of scale. After a certain point - as far as we've been able to observe - the Universe simply _rejects_ changes to time and space; the corrections will reset (though not always perfectly, see [REDACTED] as an example) and any parties involved with the tampering will be violently expelled from space-time. The precise mechanics of this expulsion are still under debate (see _Advanced Protocol Re: Anomalous Operations and Activities_ ) but everyone has been able to agree that the affected persons are at best killed outright and, more likely, partially removed from the timeline and [REDACTED]. [REDACTED], but as noted the topic remains as a topic of hot debate. Practically speaking, this means that within a given area only so many distortions and occur before the threshold is crossed and the "reset button" is pushed...

* * *

 **November 25th**

"Come on, doc, it's our last day here. You should be out doing whatever it is doctors do for fun, and I should be out there stocking up on junk food to mark up back home by, like, eighty-thousand percent."

"Mr. Kazus, I don't think that's entirely legal - and if it isn't, you probably shouldn't be telling me."

"Nah, it is," Itok said, as the asari doctor handed the scanner she was using back to the binary nurse standing nearby. "I checked."

The binary nurse and the doctor looked at one another, and both shrugged. "Well, you're free to go. Everything seems to be working just fine, no complications, no side-effects, nothing. In fact, I'd say the patch job they did here was as good as, if not better than the original plating. Still, if you experience any iss-"

"-I know, go to a hospital, you've told me every day for the past, like week."

"Just doing my job," the doctor said, sighing. "Go on, get out."

Itok gave both the doctor and the nurse a toothy grin before leaving the examination room; outside, Nihlus and the rest of the crew were waiting in the lobby and chatting to a few humans who were sitting nearby. Taking notice of him, Nihlus and the others said goodbye to the humans, and joined Itok as they exited the hospital.

"So," Larix asked, "same as usual?"

"Yup. I'm doing just fine," Itok said. "What's the plan for today, boss?"

"I dunno," Nihlus said thoughtfully. "We're going to Paul's place at, what, 8?" He checked his omnitool for a moment before shrugging. "We've got a whole day to kill, so it's up to you guys, really. I've already done the shopping I want, so I'm totally fine tagging along with you guys to wherever. Maybe you guys all pick a place?"

"Sounds good," Larix replied. "Honestly the only place I 100% gotta go before we leave is this place called 'Cutwear' - they sell traditional knives and a bunch of other stuff, figured I'd pick up a trinket or two.

"Eh, that's pretty much what I wanted too," Ultina said, nodding. "Raetor?"

"Not sure," the quarian replied. "I've already filled my entire luggage allotment with tech stuff, so if I get anything it's gotta be small. Already got a bunch of sim-game docks - maybe I'll go buy some physical collector's editions of a few games. Plenty of stores in Core that sell that sorta stuff, so I'm good to just walk wherever."

"Well, I'm glad all of you guys are easy to please," Itok said, grinning as he stretched his arms, "because I've got at least six or seven stops to make."

"Oh, spirits," Larix grumbled. "You're not seriously still going through with this, are you?"

"Hey, man, I already talked to both the Alliance's Transport Board and C-Sec about this. Nothing I'm doing is illegal, thank you very much."

"Just because something's not illegal," Nihlus noted, "that doesn't make it legal."

"Exactly! I'm counting on that." Itok pulled up his omnitool and displayed a spreadsheet listing various snack foods and drinks, along with costs and several other unlabeled columns with various numbers. "Look, we could be making a TON of cash without breaking any rules, and we get to provide a service for the good citizens of the Citadel. That's commerce at its finest."

Raetor leaned towards Itok's display in a gesture that the others took as one of skepticism. "Okay, sure, but you've got a few problems with that plan. One, this spreadsheet of yours? The minimum purchased items column goes way over your allotted luggage space. By, like, a factor of fifty. Two, how do you know people are gonna eat any of this junk? What the fuck is a 'Choco-Pie?'"

"Chocolate - sweet stuff, real good - covered cake thing. They're delicious."

"Cheeto?"

"Cheese flavoured, crunchy stick sorta snack. Also delicious."

"Black Black x Pocky: Barker Flavour Limited Edition?"

"Uh, caffeinated biscuit stick covered in whiskey-infused chocolate."

"Dude, there's no way that's legal to import," Larix said, shaking his head.

"In the future? Yeah. Right now? _Totally fuckin' legal_. Trust me, I triple-checked this last night."

"Uh-huh." Ultina crossed her arms and tapped the street with one of her boots. "And if customs decides that you are breaking the law - even in spirit?"

"Ayy, nothing to worry about. Right, Nihlus?"

"I'm not using my Spectre status to bail you out of jail because you wanted to cash in on importing junk food, Itok. Besides, Raetor's right. How're you going to carry all this crap back to the Citadel?"

"Heh, figured that out already, too. Don't you worry about it. Come on, let's go buy your knives or whatever so we can get to the important stuff."

The group walked from the hospital's entrance to a nearby subway station, and despite the mundanity of the situation - most of the people there were heading to work or school - they were met with a barrage of greetings and friendly waves. They were about to credit their omnitools at the pay station when a binary attendant walked over and plugged himself into the station and smirked at them. "Whoops," she said. "Looks like the machine's broken! Guess you'll have to ride for free today."

Their trip into Core's central shopping district continued in much the same way; they got off the subway and returned to the barriers, where they were ambushed by a man in an suit who insisted on paying for transfer passes "just in case they needed them." Exiting the station, they slowly made their way down Elation Boulevard, a long, pedestrian-only street that went on for more than a hundred blocks and was stuffed full of shops, restaurants and stalls selling goods from all across the Alliance. Larix and Ultina lead the group down the streets; they stopped in random stores that caught their eyes, and before long had arrived at Cutwear carrying a few bags each. The store was placed in the basement of a shared commerce tower, and the interior was fairly cramped. Even without real knowledge of Alliance norms, Nihlus could tell the decor was - or at least was trying to be - rustic, with carpets resembling animal furs and wooden furniture scattered throughout the store; a small sign hung just inside, reading " _Cutwear Fine Knives, Cutting & Assorted Blacksmith Services. Est. 195 FP."_

The store was mostly empty, save for a small group near the cashier composed of three humans, all covered head-to-toe with tattoos, and a binary with an odd chassis that almost looked like it was damaged and rusted in specific places as some sort of fashion statement. The cashier was a binary as well; an older model, Nihlus thought, with none of the contours or sleek, near-human designs most binaries seemed to have. This one had a military-style faceplate with only two horizontal lights running across its face, an odd sort of feathered strip hanging out of the back of its head and its chassis was definitely out of date; it resembled models he'd seen during a museum trip.

"Ah! Customers," the binary cashier said with a thick accent his translator inteprteted as a Tacitan Highland dialect. "Come on in then, and don't mind these wee ones here," he said, gesturing at the group at the front.

"No worries," one of the humans said, this one with a shaved head. "We're chefs just dicking around instead of working, so go ahead of us, 'kay?"

"Thanks," Larix said. He extended a hand to the cashier, who shook it before proceeding to clasp arms with Larix. "Name's CT, or Cutter. Ehe, you're not the first visitors from the Citadel we've had, but we've only had a few. What brings you to my establishment? Looking for a knife?"

Larix and Ultina began chatting with the owner while Raetor, Nihlus and Itok looked around the store, which, true to its name, indeed mostly sold knives of varying sorts. Most seemed to be built for kitchen use, though Nihlus found several racks of combat knives ranging from simple, ancient daggers to slightly more modern "dataknives" that were apparently common in the Alliance these days. They ended up spending nearly an hour in the shop; by the time they left, Larix and Ultina had bought several boxes of assorted knives, books and other assorted goods. They exited the shop, and Nihlus turned to Itok. "So? Where are we going now, you scoundrel?"

Itok simply grinned. "Come on, it's not far." He led them down the boulevard, and within five minutes the group had arrived in front of another commerce building. Unlike their previous stop, this one was at least ten stories tall, and it all appeared to be part of a single store whose name was emblazoned on the front in massive signage.

"Lawsons," Itok said reverently. "Come. There is much work to be done."

* * *

 _THIS DOCUMENT IS MARKED: CLASSIFIED, STG-6._

 **REPORT ON THE SYSTEMS ALLIANCE (SECOND CONTACT)**

SPECIAL TASKS GROUP  
DATE: DECEMBER 14 2157 

PIONEER CELL  
LAST REVISION: N/A

 __

 _It is, as the great tactician Oman Gajik once said, "impossible to know your enemy without knowing how his peoples live." Like the rest of the all contact reports written about other races, this entry will continue to be updated as new information and insights are acquired, but it is the opinion of the authors that the information presented here can be taken without too much reservation (except where noted.)_

 _To begin with, the best way to familiarize yourself with the Systems Alliance is to begin with a mirror image of turian society and its Hierarchy. Such a comparison is not perfect, but it will give you a basic idea of the how and why behind the way the Alliance sees itself. Where the Hierarchy is the product of centralization after quashing colonial dissent, the Alliance is the product of centralization after successful colonial revolt. Where the Hierarchy is a society that champions military and civic duty as part of a rigid social hierarchy, the Alliance is a society that champions military and civic duty as part of an informal social community. The Hierarchy adheres to the tactical doctrine of "total war," focusing on overwhelming numbers and might. The Alliance adheres to the tactical doctrine of "offensive irregularity," focusing on a constant barrage of small-scale, surgical attacks in an unpredictable manner. The Turian Army is organized in distinct layers with strict lines of command and communication. The SAAF is, by its own admission, a labyrinthine organization with inconsistent rank structure, decentralized command systems and no formal lines of communication. The comparisons in this vein could go on for a good deal of time._

 _The point of this comparison is to paint a picture of the Alliance not as some unknowable alien force; the authors of this report are aware that there are many within salarian society whose discourse has leaned towards portraying the Alliance as a bizzare, illogical society that holds itself together through some arcane methodology. This is, to be frank, an idiotic opinion and one that distracts from the very real threat the Alliance poses to galactic balance. The Systems Alliance is a logical society that uses logical means and methods - the difference is that they operate on their own internally consistent logic, not what the rest of the galaxy considers to be normal._

 _We hope that this preliminary report will serve as a base from which further intelligence-gathering operations can continue._

 _\- Pioneer_

Scanning table of contents.  
Jumping to selected page.

 **SECTION 2: LIFE IN THE ALLIANCE**

...all Alliance citizens receive a universal basic income calculated based upon the planet they live on, where they live, how old they are, etc. In addition, all citizens receive a weekly ration of basic foodstuffs consisting primarily of nutrient-enhanced, shelf-stable goods, and are provided with basic living accommodations. (See attached document 349-120 AH 22 for an example.) While there is no explicit expectation that an adult member of society must work, current knowledge indicates that there is a very strong social pressure to do so; this work need not be profitable or even practical.  
 _  
[Agent P-15: I saw multiple examples of "work" not really being work in the commonly accepted sense - perhaps "hobby" might be a better word. I was able to meet with and read about no shortage of civilians who produce artwork, compose music, or grow small amounts of produce as their job; I even met with someone who happily explained that their job was telling stories to people in-person. All of these things are, apparently, perfectly acceptable jobs for someone to have.]  
_  
However, public data indicates that the vast majority of Alliance citizens do indeed hold a job in the classic sense. Most sorts of work are treated equally in terms of social status, though there is a very clear distinction between working _in_ the Alliance and working _for_ the Alliance. Social norms hold that it is one's duty to work for the government in some way, shape, or form at some point in one's life; anyone who fails to do so is generally regarded with condescension at best and outright hostility at worst. This sort of civic duty can be anything from working in an government office to the most honourable of civic duties, joining the military...

...it would be irresponsible and dangerous to underestimate the degree to which the military is revered in the Alliance. Perhaps owing to the Alliance's roots in a colonial rebellion and bound by a sense of their nation being descended from a weaker entity defying odds against a greater foe _[Agent P-02: the Alliance term is underdog, for reference]_ , the "warrior ethos" seen in the Turian Hierarchy has a counterpart that equals, if not exceeds it in the Alliance. The peoples of the Alliance, from what we've seen in both media and in-person, generally abhor violence while diplomacy is still an option, but the minute they believe peaceful negotiation is impossible violence is seen not as a lesser option but rather as an act to be celebrated. _[Agent P-19: Someone explained this to me in a way I thought was very indicative of this method of thinking: "you gotta protect the weak and do your best not to fight - everyone deserves the chance to live, you know? Doesn't matter who they are, where they're from. But if someone's not gonna respect that chance, that right, you gotta f-'em up. And you can be proud of doing it! It's the right thing to do."]_ Unfortunately, there have not been any major conflicts in which we can observe the reactions of the general public for many centuries. Determining whether or not this ideology is something that is a thought with historical precedent dating back to pre-Alliance times or an idea consciously implanted by the Alliance after its formation is something that will require proper investigation once contact is normalized...

...sadly, we must confirm initial fears that the general public in the Alliance pose a grave threat in terms of resistance potential. During the Cerberus Incident (Refer to Section I: Timeline Of Events - Second Contact Stage), agents who were with civilians noted that Alliance citizens of all ages had at least basic military training. Most seemed unfazed by the idea of a terrorist attack, and simply carried out emergency retreats to bunkers or other fortified positions. Agent P-22, for example, joined a group of civilians in a nearby bunker, which was described to him as being a smaller one that was in need of renovation and updating. This bunker contained enough rations to last the sixty-or-so human occupants for 2.3 standard years, auxiliary power provided by a hybrid Ark-Nuclear reactor, basic medical facilities, and an armoury containing small-arms, explosives, anti-vehicle weaponry, combat vehicles, and a large store of ammunition. While most citizens in this bunker were not formally part of the Alliance's Militia, all over the age of 14 were carrying firearms in a manner that denoted at least basic weapons-handling training. Interestingly, children ranging from 8-13 were also expected to help in some form; Agent P-22 saw young human children carrying out inventory of supplies, loading small-arms magazines and helping ensure everyone was comfortable...

 **Section V: Incident Report - Cerberus Attack**

With the timeline of events already covered (see Section I), this section of the report with deal primarily with the information pertinent to the Cerberus attack as well as analysis of the fallout.

 _1: INTRODUCTION_

First, we must address the question of what the Cerberus organization is, what its goals are, how it operates and most importantly the threat it poses to the Alliance, to the Salarian Union and to the galaxy at large. These questions are actually far more difficult to answer than anticipated; there is an incredible lack of publicly-available information regarding Cerberus, and from the information we were able to gather from military personnel both current and retired, the Alliance itself knows very little about the group. We feel that the following summary best represents the group, keeping in mind the limitations of our current knowledge.

Cerberus is a terrorist organization that has existed since at least 152 Freeport (2005 Council Era) - this is when they made their first public appearance, so it is probable that the group existed prior to that. The organization has no known manifesto or end-goal, and generally speaking avoids attacking civilians. According to public records, almost all Cerberus operations have targeted SAAF installations, generally with the apparent purpose of stealing technology or simply causing havoc. Due to their use of cell networks and strict information control, captured Cerberus agents tend to know little beyond their mission parameters. _[Agent P-06: I managed to talk to a group of ex-SAAF soldiers who claim to have overheard the interrogation of a Cerberus agent. Many insisted that the even the agent didn't know what Cerberus was working towards, and refused to answer why she was working for the group. Even accounting for cultural differences, I imagine we can attribute much of this to "army grunts" passing around rumours as fact - but I thought their story was worth including regardless.]_ Cerberus is also known to posses vast stockpiles of military resources; public records show that the organization is capable of putting together large attack fleets, and their personnel are supplied with equipment that puts them at least on par with the SAAF's average equipment. How and where they source materiel is unknown, and we are inclined to believe the public record considering the fact that the attack on Harmony apparently took the SAAF entirely by surprise.

Keeping in mind that it is likely the SAAF and its Intelligence Services have been unable to suppress this threat for over three centuries, and that we are currently acting from a position without optimal intelligence, we believe that the STG should adopt the following as its top priorities with respect to the Cerberus organization.

1\. Prioritize intelligence gathering operations directed at Cerberus.

2\. Offer support to the Alliance's Intelligence Services with the supposed intention of a) assisting with anti-Cerberus operations and b) helping prevent Cerberus from gaining a foothold in Citadel space.

3\. Begin deep-cover operations to verify the Alliance's public records and safely mine available SAAF / IS sources for intelligence.

 _2a: THREAT ANALYSIS_

The Cerberus attack has made clear several uncomfortable capabilities possessed by both the group and the SAAF, which we will now analyze.

Most worrying is the long-range capabilities of ships utilizing Ark Engines. Alliance officials have stated that the entire system surrounding Harmony remains under strict surveillance; given the fact that the Cerberus ships which joined the fight did so without being detected leads us to conclude that, if willing to sacrifice accuracy and safety, AE-powered ships are fully capable of jumping incredible distances. [Agent P-45: We went over some of the footage available and noted that at least four Cerberus ships "jumped" into the close position at the same time, causing some sort of catastrophic explosion in all of the intersecting sections of ship.] These ships then proceeded to clear the planet's orbital defense lines, with the intended purpose of crashing planetside to deliver their troops. So long as materiel is not a concern, it would appear that Cerberus - and the Alliance - are capable of delivering ground-based troops without having to strictly worry about orbital defenses, anti-air, etc.

...Cerberus forces also deployed their own Pilots and Titans, allowing our agents to get a firsthand look at combat tactics and doctrine of the Alliance. We are afraid to confirm that the worst-case extrapolations of the abilities shown by Pilot Jane Shepard during the Citadel Contact Incident are true, and in fact probably underestimate the capabilities of Pilots and Titans. Public records state that Pilots have a rough top speed of about 100 km/h; footage indicates that Pilots are capable of speeds of up to approximately 140-150 km/h. Cerberus agents and Alliance Pilots also demonstrated several abilities that were either left out of Alliance information packets or downplayed. For example, Pilots appear to have some sort of short-range, combination teleportation-cloaking package capable of "shifting" its user out of harm's way. _[Agent P-32: It's not just cloaking, nor do I think it's high-speed movement. I watched an Alliance Pilot throw a punch at a Cerberus agent; the Pilot's fist was touching the agent's chest and I could see the agent's chest rig begin to buckle when the agent just "phased" and reappeared a few moments later several metres away. The implications of this are, at best, worrying. Other agents have proposed the idea that this is some sort of small-scale application of AE-derived "jump" technology, and a few have even proposed that this involves some sort of dimensional travel. This isn't my area of expertise but both answers bear investigation.]_ Pilots also appear to be able to ignore trauma and pain to some degree; footage shows both Pilots and Cerberus agents losing limbs and continuing to fight without showing any signs of slowing down...

...must express extreme concern with the strength of Pilots and Titans. Human or binary, we estimate that both are capable of causing near-fatal damage to all but a krogan with a well-aimed punch. During the Citadel Contact Incident, medical records indicate that Pilot Jane Shepard punched a quarian while attempting to "hold back," in her own words, and still managed to cause severe trauma to the quarian's internal organs; it would appear that operatives who believed she was not exaggerating have been vindicated. A Pilot or Titan in an infantry chassis might very well be perfectly capable of, if not standing toe-to-toe with, at least holding their own against a krogan. Further testing and information will be required...

...while opinion on the ultimate practicality of the Titan combat-chassis remains divided amongst the Pioneer cell, our consensus is that the incident proves that the idea has at least some merit. Most of the technology displayed by the Titan-chassis seems achievable in the short-term by our own engineers, with a few exceptions. The application of the aformentioned "shift" technology appears to apply to some of the chassis observed during the fight, as well as scaled-up versions of the "catch-and-return" shields and directed-energy-weapons...

...it is worth keeping in mind that all of these abilities appear to be in the realm of "special-forces," and given the general awe and reverence shown by the average soldier towards Pilots and Titans we see no reason to discount that theory...

 _2b: RECOMMENDED OUTCOMES_

We believe that, despite the different technological bases we operate from, that the Salarian Union Armed Forces and the Special Tasks Group can easily draw inspiration from the SAAF to maximize the combat potential of on-the-ground forces. We are currently drafting a separate report with the help of the Experimental Warfare Research Division and hope to have a concrete report shortly; in the mean time, here are a few hypothetical ideas that the we have discussed.

\- We foresee that units fulfilling a role similar to that of the Alliance's Pilot will be implemented in the near future in both the Turian Army and the SU Armed Forces / STG; we believe that our eezo-based technology will allow for high-mobility and fast-manouver units capable of surpassing the Alliance Pilot in terms of speed very shortly. It is our belief that training will be a greater obstacle than technology, and as such simulated applications should begin testing immediately. It is our belief that the Asari Warbands will, in general, be slow to adopt this specific style of combat, but the threat posed by a biotic-capable Pilot is one to be taken very seriously.

\- While it is unlikely to think that the SUAF will integrate robotics and AI into its core doctrine any time soon, we believe that the Titan - or rather, the concept of a mechanized infantry combat suit could find use in urban pacification roles. The EWRD has already proposed several ideas and will continue their work. On the other hand, we believe it is of the utmost importance to develop or otherwise obtain AI technology for use by the STG; technologies such as time-dilated thinking and intelligent intel-sifting must be acquired if we are to maintain our superiority on the information front.

\- The cyberbrain / dataports / cybernetic technology used by nearly every human citizen in the Alliance speaks to the threat the SAAF poses on the cyberwarfare front, to say nothing of AI capabilities. We must also strongly advise against attempting to infiltrate SAAF networks that have any protection whatsoever; publicly available "intrusion countermeasure software" is dangerous enough, and attempting to handle the SAAF's no doubt superior military-grade ICS without further investigation would be an idiotic idea.

 _[Agent P-11: I saw several ads targeted at large corporations specifically selling "Black-Grade Intrusion Countermeasures" designed to kill or cripple its targets. For example, the Signal Tactical Solutions company sells a software called "Comadev," which claims to infect its victim, then proceed to "prime" the target over an adjustable length of time, up to a week, before shutting down all higher brain functions and leaving the victim in a coma. The Psychosis Protections company sells a software called "Neurogone," which claims to "rapidly and randomly re-organize, re-write and corrupt data in the memory centres of organic brains and synthetic memory caches," leaving the victim - at best - unable to remember who they are and unsure of what, if any of their memories are real. All of this is PERFECTLY LEGAL, so long as anyone who uses these ICs openly warns people about their use.]_

* * *

"Hey, Virlar - the usual?"

The salarian looked up from his dataslate and nodded at the waitress. "You know what? I'm feeling fancy today - I'll try one of those Alliance coffees, please."

"Oho, you're in luck, Mr. Kirrahae," the waitress said, grinning. "We're technically not supposed to be selling more than fifty per day, but since you're a regular I'll give you number fifty-one."

"Lucky me," Virlar said, smiling back. "I- ah, jeez," he said, pausing to look as his omnitool beeped. "Sorry, I've gotta head home - stupid tap burst again."

"You know," the waitress aid, "you should think about moving outta that dump."

"I know, I know - the lease ends next month and I'm free to leave."

"Well, go on, get! I'll save your spot and that coffee for you."

Virlar simply nodded, sighed, and got out of his seat; he took an aircar back home to his block, entered his apartment and locked the door behind him. He activated the scanner on his omni, sweeped every room in the apartment, then walked to the living room, sat down, turned on the TV and activated the small jammer built into the side table next to the couch. Satisfied, he opened the message. It was something about his family - two new births, a death, and a general report on the latest clutch of eggs.

 _F2D-GE_? _Oh, shit,_ Virlar thought to himself. He quickly activated the security protocols on his omnitool, entered his credentials and let the tool scan his biometrics; the message flashed, and Virlar read.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **P2 UNABLE TO BE LOCATED. LAST SEEN ON CITADEL WITH SUBCELL MEMBERS. OPERATIVE LEFT TO USE BATHROOM WITH ONLY ONE ENTRANCE. P2 SIGNAL OFFLINE AFTER 5 MINUTES, NO SIGN OF STRUGGLE.**

 **ALL CELLS BE ON ALERT FOR P2. ANY INTEL, ROUTE TO URGENT CHANNEL**

 **MESSAGE DELETING IN 30 SECONDS**


	24. ARC 6 - ABOMINATION: GRAND OPENING

**ARC VI: ABOMINATION  
CHAPTER ONE: "Grand Opening"  
January 5th  
463 Freeport  
**  
"This is a Citadel Services PSA," the Avina hologram said in that same, irritating tone it always used. "The Systems Alliance's Consulate, located in the Citadel Embassies area of the Presidium, is now open to the general public. The consulate asks that those interested in applying for a travel visa to Alliance space, obtaining a trade license, or proposing other ventures please visit the consulate's extranet site at to familiarize themselves with steps required to be carried out online before visiting in person, to cut down on unnecessary waiting times. Inquires and general information about the Alliance can also be found on the site. Thank you, and have a pleasant day."

Nihlus simply sighed and looked over from the Avina terminal at the ridiculous crowd taking up all the space in the Citadel Embassies area; his path to the Spectre Office was almost entirely blocked by the snaking line of people waiting to get into the Alliance Consulate. Grumbling to himself, he entered the crowd and began pushing through people; despite the short distance, it took him nearly three minutes to shove his way through the crowds towards the other side. Finally, he managed to get into the Spectre Office, confirmed his biometrics, stepped through the scanner-corridor and entered the office proper, where a few others were milling about, chatting or working at terminals. He recognized a few - and one, a tall turian with a white face and simple facepaint waved at him. "Hey! Nihlus! Get over here!"

"Saren!" Nihlus jogged over and clasped arms with the taller, older man, and winced as Saren thumped him on the shoulder.

"How've you been, kid? You've been making a big stink," Saren said, laughing. "Good to see I picked well, though."

"Couldn't have done it without your help, Saren. And don't call me kid - you're not nearly old enough to pull that off."

Saren shrugged. "Eh, Tela here thought it'd be a fun idea," he said, gesturing to an asari who was working at a nearby terminal. The asari smiled at Nihlus, and mimed spitting at Saren's head before returning to her work.

"So? What've you been up to?"

"Ahh, nothing too challenging," Saren said, shrugging. "Whole bunch of pirates and mercs got together out in the Terminus, causing a bit too much trouble. Wiped'em all out. You?"

"I haven't done anything lately, to be honest. Busted up some slavers last month, but work's been surprisingly light since I got back from Harmony."

"No such thing, Nihlus - you know that. Light work today means big job tomorrow, eh?"

"Yeah, got a message today marked urgent."

"Well, get to it. Next time we're both free we'll have to catch up."

Nihlus nodded and made his way to one of the free terminals, and let it interface with his omnitool; a message appeared a few moments later, which he displayed in his HUD.

 _To: Spectre Nihlus Kryik_

A major discovery has been made in the Surik system, not far from the Accord Relay connected to the Frontier Relay. Given the proximity to Alliance Space, the Council has decided that this will serve as an excellent test run for a joint operation between the SAAF'S JSOT and the Spectres / Citadel Fleet; furthermore, the JSOT contact in the Alliance's Consulate requested you, your crew and the Lightspear specifically, given your history with the Alliance.

Your mission will be to carry out this joint operation and report your findings to the Council. Further information will be available soon; expect an in-person debriefing with the Council tonight at 7:45PM sharp, with an expected rendezvous at Accord Relay in two days.

"Major discovery, huh." Nihlus thought for a moment, then sighed. "And I was just getting used to doing nothing again." He left the office, saying goodbye to Saren, Tela and a few others, and checked his omnitool once he was back outside; he had about an hour to kill before the meeting, but figured it'd be better to show up early and wait. He turned on his comm and set it to group call; everybody except Raetor picked up. "Guys, we've got a job and we're shipping out first thing tomorrow. Run through the checklist, make sure we're all good - I'm getting more info shortly and we'll do a briefing tonight at 11."

"You got it, boss," Larix replied.

"And make sure you tell Raetor - I don't wanna have to go looking for him."

He arrived at the Citadel Tower at 7:20, and sat on a bench outside the Council Room while he waited; the halls were busier than usual, he thought, and nobody paid him any mind. He browsed through a few extranet sites, and soon enough it was his turn; he walked into the Council chambers and put on his best formal airs. "Spectre Kryik, reporting for duty."

"Thank you," Sparatus said, nodding at the other councilors. He waited for the doors to close behind the previous visitor, then tapped a few buttons on his console and waited for the doors to seal before continuing. "Spectre Kryik, we've found Prothean ruins that dwarf anything of the previous finds in Citadel Space. That in and of itself would be noteworthy, but the fact that it's so close to Alliance space - where there is, at least according to the Alliance, zero evidence of Prothean presence - makes this a very, very interesting find indeed."

"I apologize if this seems flippant, but does that require the precense of a Spectre? I understand that this is an important find, and that joint operation training was to be carried out around this time..."

"You're correct," Councilor Tevos said, nodding. "You're being called in now for two reasons. One, the archaeologists in the site found technology, relics, evidence of a second, non-Prothean society at the site which Alliance scientists have tentatively confirmed to be that of their so-called 'Precursor' race. Second, the Alliance has noted that while they don't understand what Cerberus wants, they have shown a tendency to desire Precursor technology. Considering the, ah, events a few months ago, the Alliance is understandably concerned about a possible Cerberus attack, and in any case a joint exercise will deter any other parties who think that this would be a good time to interfere."

"I understand," Nihlus said, nodding. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Not really," Valern replied. "The planet, Kena, was up until recently, a simple agricultural colony; thanks to its proximity to Alliance space its population has skyrocketed over the past few months. You'll be stationed there for a period of time, at least a week, while the Citadel Fleet - and your ship - carry out training exercises under the joint command of Commodore Caelis Rix of the 4th Fleet Group and an Alliance Rear Admiral by the name of Haukea Kahoku."

"Understood."

"Good. Dismissed, Spectre Kryik," Sparatus said.

Nihlus left the Council Tower and made his way to the Zakera Ward; he stopped for a quick snack before taking a shuttle to the private hangar the Lightspear was docked in; he exited the vehicle to find his ship covered in maintenance machines, engineers and various modules he didn't recognize. Raetor and Valtha were both standing outside on the bay's floor, directing workers and shouting orders.

"Raetor," Nihlus said, as he walked up to the two. "What the hell are you doing to my ship?"

"Heya, Nihlus. Just managed to source some parts last-minute that I've wanted for a while. Should make the Lightspear even better."

"Uh-huh. Valtha? You buy that?"

The asari pilot sighed and threw up her arms in frustration. "You'd better be glad I was here, because Raetor here bought a hell of a lot more than just 'some parts,' Nihlus. Right now we're installing upgrades to shielding, thrusters, bit more juice in the engine core. Exterior, we've got, goddess, six - SIX! - new guns, improved KBs on our sensor nodes, a very expensive self-repair unit, and some other stuff."

"See! Not that bad, eh?" said Raetor, nodding.

"Fuck you, Raetor. This dipshit was about to mount twelve new guns on the Lightspear, and I had to convince him that, you know, I need to be able to fly this fucking ship out of the hangar without crashing."

Nihlus groaned. "Raetor, we talked about this. You can't just buy ship stuff without running it past us. What're we gonna do with six spirits-damned ship-mounted guns? Are they at least new?"

"Boss, I'm telling you. Brand new, unopened, top-of-the-line, custom-spec Armax guns. Mark Six Razorlines with improved balance, corrections for drift from the initial production run, rebuilt coolant lines-"

"-okay, I get it, they're badass. Still haven't answered the question, Raetor. We're not lugging around six extra guns, and you gotta think of what we're gonna do once we get back. Spirits, how much did they cost?"

"You don't wanna know the answer to that question," Raetor said sheepishly.

"Look, I know we've been coasting off of Itok's big haul, but that's not gonna last forever."

"Well, once we have some time we could do a full refit of the frame, do some rebalancing, and mount those extra guns." Raetor looked at Valtha, and shrugged. "What? I'll show you my calcs later, it'll work! Promise!"

"And how much is all this gonna cost?" said Nihlus skeptically.

"Eh, we've still several hundred thousand credits in the clear before we even need to start thinking about anything related to expenditures, at least in terms of the ship."

Nihlus sighed and rubbed at his fringe. "Alright, whatever. Valtha, he gets out of hand, feel free to punch him until he stops. Raetor, don't be stupid."

"Got it, boss," Valtha said, lightly punching Raetor in the shoulder. "Come on, you idiot, we've gotta go check up on our new fittings."

Raetor rubbed his shoulder and made a huffing noise. "No respect around here. Yeesh."

Making his way into the ship proper, Nihlus found Itok, Larix and Ultina sitting in the back of the CIC on the floor, logging and maintaining the massive stockpile of firearms that had accumulated over the course of the past few years; Larix caught sight of Nihlus and set his rifle down. "Hey! Boss, what's our mission?"

"Nope," Itok said, "it's not even 10 yet and the briefing is at 11. We're busy."

"No we're not," Ultina replied, kicking Itok slightly under the table. "The only reason we're playing with the guns is because there's nothing else to do."

"Ugh, whatever."

"Hey, don't you start complaining. We haven't even left yet." Nihlus sat down in one of the chairs bolted into the armoury's wall, and made a noncommital grunting noise. "Anyways, there's no rush since we gotta wait for Raetor and Valtha, but if we can leave earlier I wouldn't mind."

"Where are we going that leaving early would be worth it?" Larix asked.

"Not spoiling it. I'm gonna have a nap - wake me up when Raetor and Valtha are finished whatever it is they're doing." He leaned against the chair's comfortable cushioned back, closed his eyes, and groaned, opening them again as Itok started cackling to himself. "Great. What now?"

"They're done! You thought you were gonna nap and you don't get to, old man. Why do you always try and nap anyways?" Itok asked. "You're not even that old."

"Hey, gotta get as much sleep as you can. Never know when you'll be stuck in a hard place and can't afford to sleep," Larix replied.

"Alright, whatever." Nihlus rubbed at his fringe, stretched, and got up; a few moments later, Raetor and Valtha walked in. "Alright! You two all good?"

"Good enough," Valtha said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, good," Nihlus said, cutting off Raetor before he could launch into his obvious desire to complain. "Listen up. Surik system, planet called Kena," he continued, turning on the map in the middle of the CIC. "It's only a jump away from the Accord Relay - which means it's right up by Frontier and Alliance space. They've found a big Prothean site at Kena - and here's the kicker, a bunch of the Alliance's Precursor technology."

"Oh," Ultina said after a moment of silence. "That's...kind of a big deal, right?"

"Understatement of the year. Anyways, Council figures now's a good time for us to get out there with a bunch of ships from the Citadel Fleet, do a test joint-op with the Alliance's Joint Special Operations Teams, practice manoeuvres and the like while keeping the archaeologists planetside safe. I wanted to leave early, because we're supposed to be there in two days. If we get going, like, now, I'll allow for a quick stop at Unity Station, and if we're lucky, maybe even a quick - and I do mean quick - trip planetside to Discovery."

"AWWWW FUCK YEAH," Itok said, raising his arms in triump. "Boss, you are the BEST."

"And NO, we're not picking up like a bajillion fucking tons of Cheetos or whatever they're called, Itok. If we stop you can get a snack, and maybe a box or two of your own shit. That's IT. Same goes for the rest of you."

The assembled group laughed as Nihlus scowled at them, but Nihlus joined in laughing a moment later. "Really, though, we got requested by the Alliance's JSOT, so this is a pretty big deal. We're not only representing the Spectres and Citadel, but building good relations with the SAAF. So, best behaviour, don't shoot the humans or the binaries, be nice, the usual, okay?"

"Yes, boss," the group said in unison.

"Perfect. Valtha, Raetor, pre-flight checks, everyone else stow your gear and make sure we're prepped for launch." Nihlus paused to think, and there was a sudden crashing noise which echoed throughout the ship.

"Uh...sorry?" Everyone looked at Raetor, who sank into his chair. "Okay, okay, I'll go take a look!"

"Spirits take me, it's like herding a bunch of fucking children," Nihlus grumbled as he stormed out of the room.

* * *

 **January 7th  
Kena, Surik System**

The _Lightspear_ exited its jump not too far away from Kena; the planet was a lush, green world, and Nihlus decided that he'd take the time to visit it properly one day when he was off the clock. A small group of Citadel Fleet ships were stationed in orbit, some of which were docked at a small station, and the _Lightspear_ was hailed a few moments later. Valtha accepted the message, and pulled the feed up, revealing an old, scarred turian in the CF's uniform.

" _Lightspear_ , this is Commodore Silus Rix of the _Broadshield_."

" _Broadshield_ , this is Spectre Nihlus Kryik of the _Lightspear_ , receiving you clearly. Go ahead."

"Good to meet you, Spectre Kryik. We've gotten word that the Alliance's ships will be arriving in a few hours; we'll be doing introductions planetside once they arrive, so feel free to land at Kena City - original, I know - and take a look around. Just keep your comms open and an eye on the sky."

"Understood. _Lightspear_ out." Valtha eased the ship past the fleet and into atmosphere before opening her comm channel and signalling for permission to land; a few seconds later, the ship's comms lit up again.

" _Lightspear_ , this is Kena City Port Authority. Please proceed to landing pad four."

The ship broke cloud cover, and Larix whistled as the crew took in the view; Kena was gorgeous, with rolling hills, lush forests and green as far as the eye could see. "Damn," Larix said, "anyone wanna retire early, be a farmer? This place is beautiful."

"No," shouted Itok from the CIC. "Farmers have to touch shit and squirt milk outta their animals. It's disgusting."

"Nobody asked you, Itok," Valtha shouted back. "Really though, this is incredible. Could see myself setting up here as a matriarch, living a quiet, peaceful life."

Nihlus snorted. "Uh-huh. Sure."

The ship soared over farming fields and small outposts and into the airspace of Kena City proper; the city reminded Nihlus of a farming colony he'd visited as a child, its small, pre-fab buildings already showing signs of artwork, add-ons and decorations placed by the locals. The city itself wasn't too large, but it was clearly expanding beyond its original borders, and from the cockpit Nihlus could see where extra rows of landing pads had been hastily assembled in the port itself. The ship landed, and Valtha lowered the ship's rear ramp before she began carrying out post-flight checks. Nihlus stopped by the locker on his way out, strapped on his shielding pack and his sidearm before heading out to the rear of the ship. A salarian woman wearing a simple tunic and pants was waiting at the bottom of the ramp, and Nihlus clasped arms with her once he descended the ramp.

"Spectre Nihlus Kryik," he said politely.

"Oh, goodness. I knew we'd be getting a whole bunch of military folk and even some people from the Alliance, but I didn't think...wow. A Spectre." The woman blinked a few times before stepping back and bowing slightly. "Ah, where are my manners? Vahrin Corana, Mayor of Kena City. I know our little town's not that big yet, but it's growing every day," she said, gesturing grandly at the city behind her. "Are you going to be staying long?"

"Probably about a week? I know we won't be planetside all the time, since we're here to do some drills and whatnot, but I do hope to be able to poke around and see what there is to see with the rest of my crew."

"Well, there's not that much in the town yet, but Kena's a beauty of a planet, if I do say so myself. And the ruins! Jaka found them last week and let me tell you - those are something else, alright."

"Heh. With any-" Nihlus flinched, grabbed Vahrin by instinct and flung her to the ground, shielding her with his body; he stared as the sky erupted with flashes and, off in the distance, ships he didn't recognize appeared in the sky.

"Nihlus! Nihlus, you need to get in here right now!" shouted Larix over comms. "We've got a big fucking problem! Cerberus fuckers, lots of'em!"

He pulled Vahrin up, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Listen - I don't know what's going on but you need to get everyone you can to safety. Your farmers are armed?"

"Y-yes," she replied shakily. "Most folks are already back from the fields, but I'll send out the signal just to be sure. We've done some drills-"

"-look, don't do anything stupid. Stay sheltered, stay safe, help will be on its way. Go!" Nihlus swore as he sprinted back into the ship, cursing the entire way. "One day, spirits help me so," he shouted to nobody in particular, "I will have a good, nice mission where shit doesn't go wrong!" The CIC was open, as was the door to the armoury; Larix, Raetor and Itok were busy stuffing rigs and pulling out armour crates from the lockers, and Ultina was on the CIC's main holomap.

"Boss, get to the front. Valtha's got a message," she said.

He sprinted up to Valtha's seat, where the asari pilot was frantically scanning through multiple screens and pulling up comm reports; noticing Nihlus, she flipped a switch and activated the external speakers.

"Nihlus! This is Commodore Rix, we've got at, at least seventy, no, eighty Cerberus ships, we're moving to engage now - shit, they're sending some planetside! Trajectory estimate is that dig-site, you- hold on, incoming, relaying to public channel!"

A new voice took over, this one thickly accented with a dialect Nihlus' translator couldn't quite figure out, the tone dead serious and full of steel. "This is Systems Alliance Rear Admiral Kahoku. We are in pursuit of Cerberus forces and will assist with orbital defense once we arrive, ETA ten minutes. We are also sending our forward ground teams to Kena City, ETA one minute, and a deatchment of special forces to the dig site led by a Pilot and Titan, ETA ten minutes. Private comm info to follow via burst, stand by."

The sky lit up again as Kena's orbit was filled with even more ships, and a few moments later Nihlus saw dropships warping into the airspace above Kena City, each bearing the skull-and-knife insignia of the SAAF; Nihlus simply switched the comms to maximum encryption and transmitted. "Commodore Rix, we're moving to assist with protection of the dig site - we can't let Cerberus get their hands on Prothean tech!"

"Understood - we're sending reinforcements to the city shortly to back up the SAAF units! Spirits bless, good luck!"

"Valtha, co-ordinates?"

"Got'em, boss! ETA 5 minutes."

"Go!" Nihlus ran back into the CIC; his equipment was already laid out for him, and the others were suiting up and loading their weapons.

"The fuck is going on?" asked Itok, expression furious. "I barely know these Cerberus people but I'm really, really starting to hate them."

Nihlus finished putting his armour on, checked all of his weapons and holstered them before grabbing his helmet and putting it on. "Listen up! Dig site's under attack by Cerberus forces. Stay close, fight smart, and we'll do just fine. We'll be joined by Alliance special forces - so fight hard, show'em what we can do!"

"Arriving in two minutes," Valtha said from the cockpit. "Ready up, rear hatch!"

Raetor was the last to join the rest of the crew in the rear hangar; Nihlus noticed that he had a large tube strapped to his back. The rear hatch opened moments later, revealing an incredibly massive dig site cut into the side of a field and extending into a nearby mountain; it resembled a mining quarry, and several makeshift trams, tunnels and walkways dotted the area. Nihlus swore as he noticed nearly two dozen crashed Cerberus ships in various states of destruction littered throughout the site, all of which were either offloading ground troops or dumping racks of those robotic soldiers they'd seen back on Harmony. Several noticed the _Lightspear_ , but besides a bit of small-arms fire none paid them any attention; instead, they simply began fanning out through the dig site.

"In position - best spot for me to land - good cover, good spacing," Valtha said over comms as the ship landed and extended its clamps. "Hatch is down! Go!"

The team jumped down into a courtyard of some sort; several dataslates lay on tables and Nihlus saw several half-eaten meals laying about. "Alright! Our job is simple - wipe those Cerberus bastards out," Nihlus shouted as the crew began to take cover around nearby crates. They secured the drop zone, and from there began to sweep the nearby habitation units; most were empty, but on the fourth try Raetor hacked the door open to reveal a small group of archaeologists, one of whom was pointing a handgun at Nihlus.

"Freeze! Don't move, or I'll shoot," the asari said, hands steady.

"I'm a Spectre and I'm here to help," Nihlus said, signalling for the team to take up defensive positions nearby. "You'll be safe aboard that ship over there," he said, pointing to the _Lightspear_ , "but I need some sort of map, and any info you have to give. Is there anything in particular that you guys have found? Some specific find that stands out?"

"Y-yes," the asari said, tapping her omnitool. "Here, in grid 14-25, two levels below the bottom floor, we found some sort of Prothean device that was encircled by, by, I'm not sure, actually. We think it's some sort of security device built by the Alliance's Precursors. We don't know what it is exactly, but it's one of the first working Prothean devices we've ever found - it looked online, we were planning fully excavating it and trying to see what its purpose was." She tapped her omnitool a few more times, and Nihlus' HUD lit up with a detailed map of the area.

"Thanks - now get out of here, run straight for that ship and don't go anywhere. Valtha, we found some of the workers here, sending them aboard the ship."

"Got it, Nihlus."

"Team, overwatch!" Nihlus joined the rest of the team and covered his sector until the archaeologists were all aboard the _Lightspear_ ; once the ramp was up, he signalled for the group to fall in. "Sending you updated maps - Cerberus is probably after this device. Working Prothean tech," he said, highlighting the grid the asari had told him about. "Two levels below ground floor - easy route, but lots of Cerberus in the way. Let's move!"

The team began bounding through the dig site, pushing steadily downwards towards the excavated floor, and while there was no shortage of cover available thanks to machinery, crates and assorted archaeological equipment, Nihlus took care to avoid venturing near the railings overlooking the open-air site; he could hear shouting and clanking down below, and had no desire to get killed by a stray shot from a robot. Their group had descended two levels and were ready to take another stairway down when an explosion rocked the pre-fab scaffolding they were on; Larix was the first to peek out of cover.

"Damn - looks like they just blew the stairs," Larix shouted. "Need a new route!"

Nihlus swore under his breath and checked the map again. "Okay, there's a side maintenance tunnel we can use on the floor above us - that'll take us down to the first floor, and from there we've got a clear shot to the sublevels. Move!" The group fell back up a floor, found the side tunnel Nihlus was talking about and stacked up around the tunnel entrance. "On three - one, two, go." Nihlus and Larix both sliced the doorway while Raetor, Ultina and Itok fell in behind, and the group began to move down the dimly-lit tunnel at a steady pace. The tunnel itself was mostly empty, save for the occasional supply crate or scanning terminal, and as the tunnel began to wind its way towards the excavated ground floor Nihlus paused and signaled for the group to stop. "You hear that?"

Raetor cocked his head. "Footsteps - metal? Might be those robot things."

"Stay alert." Nihlus continued, gun raised, and reached the bottom of the sloped tunnel; he paused and peeked around the corner before ducking back. "Okay. From here it's about twenty, thirty feet to the tunnel exit, then the open quarry - entrance to the sublevels are on the other side. About sixty, maybe seventy of those robots in the way - don't see any Pilots, human or binary, so they're probably already in the basement levels going after the artifact."

"We could take out the robots and set up an ambush," Ultina ventured. "Quarry's got lots of cover, good sightlines, easy fields of fire?"

"Fuck that," Itok said, shaking his helmeted head. "We stay out in the open, those Pilot fuckers will probably start running along the walls and shit - our best bet is to get into the tunnels, fuck'em up while they have nowhere to go. Shoot enough into a flat tunnel and they can't dodge."

"I'm with Itok," Nihlus said. "Those jump kits of theirs won't help in cramped tunnels - remember the bunkers on Harmony? Alright. Larix, Ultina, up front - concs, lift nades, then suppress with disruptor ammo," he said, loading disruptor rounds into his rifle. "Raetor - CQ turrets behind. Itok, go nuts - tech bursts, pyros, the works. On my mark." Nihlus took a deep breath, then shouldered his rifle. "Mark!" He rounded the corner and fired several rounds into the nearest spectre, tearing through its shields and sending it crumpling into the ground; the robot attempted to fire its weapon as it jerked around on the floor, and Nihlus finished it off with another burst to its head. He slid over towards a nearby crate, and flung several grenades out into the crowds of robots ahead, then set his rifle to concussive shot mode and aimed at a dense cluster of spectres. His shot landed just as his lift-grenades went off, sending a dozen spectres flying off into the distant quarry wall and blowing apart several more. Larix and Ultina did the same, albeit with less optimal timing, and the three began a steady advance forward while maintaining a steady stream of aimed fire out of the tunnel. "Raetor! Itok! Move!"

"Moving!" Raetor took the lead, sprinting up to a crate right by the now-clear tunnel exit, and unhooked two cubes from his belt. He waved both over his omnitool and threw both as far as he could into the open quarry; the robots paid the two cubes no attention, focusing instead on the three turians that were advancing, and as such were unprepared when the cubes popped open, hovered off the ground and began firing a barrage of cryo blasts and shrapnel canisters. The second their attention was split in both directions, Itok moved forward and raised his omnitool, firing a salvo of neon-red plasma charges before switching to the omnitool on his right arm and unleashing a blue-silver pulse which chained between the robotic spectres, stunning several and setting even more on fire. Raetor and Itok both unslung their weapons and began firing, keeping pace behind Nihlus, Larix and Ultina; within moments they were steadily pushing forward, dropping into cover as needed to restore their shields and picking off enemies as they moved into the open quarry. "CQTs offline, 30 seconds!"

"Pyro, overload, CD 15 seconds," Itok said, taking cover behind a half-dissembled truck as his shotgun cooled down.

"Copy, moving," Ultina said, moving up to take the lead. "Concs out."

The team moved with practiced precision, smoothly moving forward and through the quarry floor, covering each other as their shields fell and ensuring that the spectres were always dealing with both incoming gunfire and the team's tech weapons; as quickly as the fight had started, it was over. The quarry was silent save for the clanking of dying spectres spasming on the ground and the echoing groans of the wrecked Cerberus ships which smoked and flared all around the dig site.

"Clear, up," Nihlus said, taking a deep breath. "Inventory and status."

"I'm up," Larix said. "Six lift nades, two clusters."

"I'm up," Ultina said. "Four lift nades, four clusters."

"All good," Itok said. "Systems green."

"I'm up, rear clear," Raetor said. "All 6 CQ turrets working, regular's still good."

"Alright. Ten-second breather, stack up on far doors." Nihlus and the rest of the group moved to the second set of tunnel doors at the far end of the quarry, and took up positions. "Map shows it's pretty much a straight shot to the artifact room; branch tunnels all turn into dead ends. We'll clear'em anyways. Cooldown check, inventory, get ready." He paused to stretch his arms, then nodded. "Stay alert. Possible hostile Pilots in there - remember the drill, stay calm, stay alive. On three. One, two, go."

The tunnel leading to the artifact was totally different from the rest of the dig site; it was lit entirely by strange, glowing glyphs carved into the walls, and the map showed that despite only having one tunnel leading towards the artifact room, that route was a long, winding path with several drops and inclines in elevation; branch tunnels split off from the main route at regular intervals. The group moved into the tunnels proper and began carefully clearing each branch, moving cautiously into the complex towards the artifact. The carvings on the walls became more and more complex, the glowing glyphs replaced by strange inscriptions which covered every section of the tunnel and pulsed a dull blue light at a steady interval.

"Uh, okay," Itok said quietly. "This is creeping me out."

"Fuck, man," Raetor said uncomfortably as they checked the next branch. "Is it me or are those carving things...you know, moving?"

"Stay focused," Nihlus said, though he didn't mention the fact that he too thought the inscriptions reminded him of the beating entrails of a still-living animal.

They cleared another dozen branches. Most were empty, though a few had the occasional scanning unit or holo-terminal set up. A few minutes later, Nihlus' comm pinged, and he opened the link.

"This is Spectre Kryik, go ahead."

"Nihlus?" The voice was instantly recognizable and far too cheery for the situation they were in. "This is Pilot Jane Shepard, our combat team is on-site and ready to assist. Looks like you took care of most of the spectres - the robots? Anyways your ship's helmswoman, Valtha, sent us a map - where are you guys?"

"We're in the sublevel tunnels, heading to secure the Prothean artifact."

"Understood. How many of you are in there?"

"Five, including myself - we're just passing branch tunnel fourty."

"Shit. Alright, I'll head in to assist and have the rest of our CT stay out here to secure the position - you keep moving, I'll catch up."

"Copy. Nihlus out." Nihlus tapped his omnitool a few times, then shouldered his rifle again. "Alright, we've got another thirty-two branches to clear - let's get a move on."

The next ten minutes passed in silence; they cleared another twenty tunnel branches, when Nihlus' omnitool lit up again. "Go ahead," he said.

"Nihlus, what branch are you at now?"

"Sixty - why?"

"Nihlus, I'm at branch seventy. I can see the hatch to the artifact room, and unless you were deep into a side tunnel hiding from me there's no way I would have missed you. Can you send a secure ping to me?"

"Roger. Sending it now." Nihlus tapped his omnitool and waited for a moment, and when Jane responded her voice was no longer cheerful - it was cold, professional, calculated.

"Nihlus, your ping says you're still at branch forty."

"Uh, that's impossible," Itok said, confused. "We've been clearing new branches, and the changes in elevation line up with the map."

"Oh, shit. Listen to me very carefully: do not move. Do not call anyone other than me. Do not go ANYWHERE - not a single goddamn step. I'll be there in a moment." Jane's icon disappeared from the team's HUDs, and Nihlus looked up to see his crew looking around nervously.

"Oookay, I'm really not liking this one bit," Raetor said nervously. "The weird pulsing shit on the walls and floors and ceilings was bad enough but now we're...I don't even know what's going on."

"What if this is some sort of...anomaly?" asked Itok. "Wait, hear me out - we read that safety thing on the ship. Alliance deals with holes in time, dimensional rifts, spooky shit like that, right? Their tech base starts with Precursor stuff, and we also know their Precursor-derived gear straight up doesn't work with the mass relays, which were built by the Protheans. What if the Precursor...stuff that asari archaeologist mentioned is malfunctioning or something thanks to the active Prothean device?"

"That's actually a really good point," Ultina said as calmly as she could, "but it doesn't explain what we're supposed to do now."

"Yeah - I'm pretty sure safety protocols we read on our way to Harmony basically amounted to 'don't touch, interact with, or go anywhere near anomalies,' and if we're smack dab in one..." Larix made an incoherent grumbling sound, and sighed.

An uncomfortable silence passed for a minute or two, when Jane's icon reappeared. "Okay," she said, "I think I've figured this out. The Precursor tech down here is acting all fucky, for lack of a better term, and it's caught you in some sort of trap. I think those Cerberus idiots triggered some sort of protective measure."

"You know this how?" asked Raetor. "Not trying to be rude, just, you know, double checking. Since we're the ones that are apparently stuck in...whatever this is."

"I doubled back to branch forty, and you're not there; however, there are five lights on the floor, and the glyphs on the wall? Most of them are doing that weird pulsing thing, but there's a line leading from the five lights all the way back to the artifact room that's glowing red. You guys see that?"

"No," Nihlus said, "but I'll take your word for it. You have an idea?"

"Sure. Gimme a second, I'm just entering the artifact chamber in three, two, one." Jane suddenly went silent, though her signal icon showed her to still be transmitting. "Doors open - holy shit. Okay, there's a whole bunch of Cerberus Pilots. Big tower thing, matches the description of the Prothean device in the middle of the room, but there's all these...black wires or tentacles or something wrapped around it, looks like the Cerberus folks are trying to cut it away. I'm moving in, stand b-" Jane suddenly went silent, but her broadcast icon was still online and showing her as transmitting.

"Jane? Pilot? What's the situation?" Nihlus tapped at his omnitool and swore repeatedly; he was about to consider moving, anywhere, and radio for help when Jane's comm started broadcasting again. Her tone was wrongly calm; the sort of voice Nihlus had heard not from veterans like himself and his crew, but from recruits breaking under combat stress.

"Prothean, prothean, intruders, filth," Jane said, as if she were reading from a list. "Nihlus, the Precursor tech ping says branch double back, KN, KN, help, go anywhere, call Valtha, call KN, call Precursors, prothean filth, prothean filth, prothean fil-"

"Pilot Shepard, snap out of it! What's going on?"

"-th, help, Shepard, R1-G2, Pilot, prothean filth-"

"This isn't fun anymore," Itok said in a whisper. "I want to go home."

"-KN, KN." Jane's voice stopped, and when it started again, her voice was now commanding, as if she were giving orders. "Glory, glory, glory, glory. _Asan akorin yazahn,_ glory, _noroleth asan kadra_ , come forth and be made whole. Expunge the infidel and the filth and the parasite. Help. KN. Glory. Excise the intruders and glory, glory, glory, _asan akorin yazhan noroleth asan kadra, asan akorin yazhan noroleth asan kadra, asan ak_ -"

"-alright, fuck this. We're going to help her." Nihlus tapped his omnitool and set an open broadcast. "Alliance and Citadel forces, this is Spectre Kryik broadcasting from the dig site just outside Kena City. We are experiencing possible anomalies due to Precursor or Prothean technology; Pilot Jane Shepard has been incapacitaetd in some way and we're moving to investigate." His omnitool accepted the broacast but flashed a warning that its signal was being jammed; he set the message to repeat anyways, and sighed. "Come on. Let's move!" The group ran up the tunnel up towards the artifact room; its hatch was open, and Nihlus saw several Cerberus Pilots indeed attempting to cut through a forest of thick, black wires that covered the object in the middle of the room; the tip of what Nihlus assumed was the Prothean device stuck out of the tangled mass. Jane was hoisted up against a wall by a massive bunch of wires; several Cerberus Pilots were scanning her, all keeping their distance.

The group was about to stack up on the sides of the hatch when the room flared with a blinding light; as it dimmed, one of the Cerberus agents caught sight of them, sprinted over to a nearby terminal and pulled a lever; the hatch to the room began to close.

"Move! We're not getting locked out!" shouted Nihlus, and the group entered the artifact room - which, Nihlus thought in the back of his mind, was less of a room and more of a massive cave - just as the hatch sealed behind them.

There were thirteen Cerberus Pilots all staring at them.

"Okay," Nihlus said, shouldering his rifle, "I figure it doesn't hurt to ask. You guys wanna lay down your weapons, talk this out?"

The cave exploded into gunfire.

"ENGAGING!" Nihlus hadn't even finished barking his order before his team moved into action - the result of hours spent scrounging for and pouring over combat footage of Pilots, whole days devising and testing ideas in the _Lightspear_ 's hangar, and hundreds of hours of practice. Raetor and Itok both bolted for the nearest cover, unslung rods from their backs and planted them to create an interlocking kinetic barrier that shielded them; Larix and Ultina split off and began firing at the Pilots as they circled the cave, weaving in and out of cover. Nihlus was about to join the two turians when, instead of boosting into cover or around the cave, one of the Pilots drew a massive handgun and a combat knife before firing himself straight at Nihlus at top speed. The split-second Nihlus saw the Pilot move into the ready stance he'd seen Jane take before launching herself off solid ground, he fired a concussive shot at a precise angle, combat-rolled to the left, and fired a salvo of cryo rounds. The Pilot boosted towards Nihlus at a ridiculous speed, hovering slightly above the ground - and was moving too quickly to dodge the concussive blast which slammed straight into his face. The Cerberus Pilot's shields popped with a visible flare, and the burst of cryo rounds clipped the Pilot in several places, including his jump kit; the Pilot disengaged the kit and angled himself towards the ground, rolling smoothly.

Before he could wheel around, Nihlus had loaded a modified carnage-incendiary setting into his rifle, set it to a custom built, hypervelocity, maximum-rounds-per-minute salvo of twenty-five shots, and sprayed the enemy Pilot from his chest to his head; the Pilot was slammed into the ground with the force of the impacts, massive holes ripping through his torso and punching straight through his helmet. The Pilot's body had barely rebounded off the floor before Nihlus pulled a cluster grenade off his belt, slid forward, and jammed the primed explosive into the Pilot's open helmet. The biotic explosion blew apart the Pilot's head, exposing a combination meat, wires and gore; the second Nihlus saw the Pilot's corpse, he wheeled around and sprinted to join Ultina and Larix, who were keeping themselves alive by preemptively firing concussive shots at likely attack vectors and tossing warp mines on the cave's walls and ceilings whenever they had a chance. Raetor and Itok, in the mean time, had set up even more shields around their position; Itok was busy harassing the hostile Pilots with a mix of plasma shots, electrical pulses, cryo blasts and aimed fire from his shotgun, while Raetor had deployed all six of his custom turrets on the ceiling above him and was now busy doing something with the tube he'd been carrying on his back.

One minute into the fight, Nihlus called out on his comms, still moving from cover to cover with Larix and Ultina. "Tech check!"

"Chaining CDs, up!" shouted Itok. "Two kills!"

"CQT, ATs, mines up! PK ready in sixty!" said Raetor. "Two kills!"

"Keep pressure! Larix, contact 240 up wall!"

"Got it!" Larix rolled out of his cover, barely dodging a flaming shuriken and the Pilot following right behind it; the concussive blast Larix fired almost knocked the Pilot off his feet. The Pilot managed to get off a burst from his submachinegun, and Larix shouted in pain as his shields went down and several rounds punched holes through his left leg and left arm.

"LARIX!" Ultina, who was fending off a Pilot several metres behind Larix's position, fired a twenty-salvo next to the Pilot she was fighting and managed to connect with nearly every round as the Pilot attempted to boost into an arc to move into melee range; the Pilot disengaged as Ultina's aimed fire tore through his shields and blew apart one of his legs. The Pilot landed on his remaining leg, boosted up to a ceiling and promptly exploded in a shower of metal and viscera as he landed head-first into a patch of Itok's warp mines. She sprinted towards Larix, who was retreating to a nearby rock formation as the Pilot that was chasing him weaved in and out of cover as his shields kept popping and regenerating; the delay was minimal, but it provided enough time for Larix to scoot into cover. Ultina rammed the barrel of her rifle into the unaware Pilot's back and fired a concussive shot that sent the Pilot flailing forward, and just as he was about to use his jump kit to reorient himself Nihlus popped up from behind a pile of supply crates, activated his omni-blade and held it out as the Pilot's own momentum drove the blade straight through his faceplate. The impact of the Pilot send Nihlus to his knees, and the omni-blade ripped straight down the Pilot's torso and out through his groin.

The three regrouped as Larix quickly activated his suit's emergency sealant, and watched tensely as the remaining six enemy Pilots retreated back up to the top of the cave where the Prothean device - and Jane - were. One fired his rifle at Jane; the rounds pinged off some sort of invisible barrier. Another flipped the lever that controlled the door, and the Pilots were about to boost towards the hatch when Raetor unslung his tube and aimed at the group.

"Pilot-killer online! Firing!" Raetor nearly buckled as a blue-white blast shot out of the back of the tube, the backblast instantly ripping through the kinetic barriers Raetor had placed there; rather than firing a single projectile, a shining cloud of eezo-infused microexplosives sprayed out of the tube in a loud screech, blowing apart four of the six Pilots in a blinding burst of light. The last two Pilots managed to dodge the worst of the explosion, and were halfway out of the hatch when a binary soldier wearing the black-green armour of the SAAF boosted through the doorway, clotheslined the pair with its arms, deployed shotgun modules in both hands and emptied a long burst into each Cerberus Pilot's head.

Adrenaline still pumping through his veins, Nihlus helped Larix to his feet and, rifle raised, returned to the main platform. "Sound off!"

"Clear," Itok said shakily.

"Clear," Raetor said, panting.

"I'm wounded but alright," Ultina said, looking down at her armour; several railgun shots had come dangerously close to punching through her armour, but save for a few glancing wounds she seemed mostly intact.

"F-fine," Larix moaned, and Ultina set him on the ground. His armour had been breached in almost a dozen spots, and while his suit sealant had shut most of the wounds it was obvious he was in extreme pain. "Just- fuck - just a scratch, boss," he managed to say. "You're not - not - ow, doing so good either?"

Nihlus looked down to find that, at some point during the fight, his left gauntlent had been blasted open and his hand was bleeding heavily; his armour was covered in dents, holes and scorch-marks, and he was bleeding in several places where shots had - nonlethally, somehow - punched through his helmet. "I'm fine. Just breathe, Larix, you're gonna be okay. You there," he shouted to the binary soldier, "thanks for the assist!"

"JANE!" The binary ran forward, and Nihlus recognized KN's distinct accent. "Fuck, fuck, fuck - Jane, hold on, we're gonna get you outta there!"

Nihlus simply breathed for a moment.

"Okay," he said after a moment to nobody in particular. "KN! Hey, KN!" He walked over to the binary, who was desperately trying to extract Jane from the mass of wiring attached to the wall; KN whirled around and despite his only having a single light on his faceplate Nihlus swore that his expression was pleading.

"Nihlus - we - we gotta get her out of here."

"Listen, KN, it's going to be fine. I'll help you in a second but I need your help - Larix is badly wounded. What's the situation outside like?"

"It's alright - we fought off a bunch of Cerberus forces, wipe'd em out."

"Larix needs a medical evac. Is it safe enough for that"

KN's lights flashed, and he nodded. "Get him outside. One of the CF ships says there's a shuttle's inbound right now." Ultina helped Larix to his feet and, supporting most of his weight, began walking towards the door when she stopped suddenly.

"What about the anomaly? Aren't we going to get stuck in it?"

Nihlus looked at her, confused. "What? Don't you remember Jane telling us that we'd be fine?" he said, gritting his teeth as a sudden ache throbbed through his head. "She said we'd be fine once we got those Cerberus idiots to stop attacking the wiring."

Raetor looked at Itok, then at Nihlus. "No she didn't - are you feeling alright, boss? She's just been chanting that weird alien language for the past, like, five minutes."

Itok looked around nervously. "Haha, okay, that's weird, because I definitely remember her telling us that too."

Raetor was about to say something when he flinched. He looked up, and he was shaking very slightly. "Keelah. I - I remember it too. When did she tell us?"

"I don't know," Ultina said, "but she did tell us. Before? I think before we got into the tunnel?"

KN's faceplate flashed again, and he cursed several times. "Guys, we are smack dab in the middle of some anomalous shit right now." He glanced over at Jane, and shook his head. "I can check my memory logs; they're shifting. I don't know what Jane's trapped inside but I think it's fucking with time, and Jane's using it somehow to her advantage."

Ultina nodded. "Alright, I'l get Larix outta here, if we're alright."

"As good as we'll get," Itok replied as she left the room. He slumped against a nearby wall, panting. "I am getting way too old for this shit."

"Come on, we can rest later." Nihlus paced for a moment, able to properly take in the room. The Prothean device, or what he could see of it, looked like a minimalist communications beacon with a curved base. Most of it was tangled up in a thick layer of black wires; following the wires back to their origin point led to a large, black, stone tablet roughtly twice Nihlus' height. The tablet was set into the wall and was covered with inscriptions written in green, glowing glyphs; the writing seemed to undulated and pulse, and for some reason the longer he looked at the writing the more his head began to hurt. Underneath the glyphs, the wires converged at a small hole which Nihlus simultaneously knew was too small to fit all of the wiring and was too large to occupy the space it did. Managing to tear his vision away from the tablet, he noticed what appeared to be a second set of wiring that extended from next to the tablet - trying to figure out where it actually originated sent shooting pains through his skull - all the way up and into the base of the prothean device. He noticed a strange ring-like structure connecting the mass of black wires to prothean device's base; the ring looked to be made out of the same metallic substance as the wiring, but it pulsed slowly with a faint white-blue glow.

"Guys, take a look at this," Nihlus said, waving the group over. They gathered around the adapter, and Raetor hesitantly leaned in to take a closer look.

"Huh. Some sort of...adapter? A connecting piece, to let the wiring interface with the prothean device, maybe?"

"Whatever it is," KN said, "it's screwing with my sensors. Keeps saying that the ring is fluctuating between negative seventy-two million and positive fourty-five billion degrees."

"So...don't touch it?" Itok ventured, glancing around nervously.

"Forgot to mention - don't look at that tablet for too long," Nihlus said to Itok. "Hurts my head for some reason, and I'm not interested in finding out why."

"Yeah, I'm good," Itok replied, pointedly looking away from the tablet. "Got enough brain damage as is, thank you very much."

"Maybe I could look?" KN turned to face the tablet, and snapped back. "Okay, that's showing up on my cameras as a mass of static or something."

"I'm going to cut the connection," Nihlus said, matter-of-factly. "Ultina, how's Larix doing?"

"Unconscious but stable," Ultina said over comms. "Shuttle's about to land and we're loading him on; they're mopping up the Cerberus ships in orbit so we're bringing him to the hospital in Kena."

"Okay. Keep us posted."

"I'm sorry, did you say you were going to cut the connection?" Raetor grabbed Nihlus' arm before he could activate his omni-blade. "Look, I get that we all want to get Jane out of that tentacle wiring shit, but let's think this through. I know Jane said it was safe, but no offense to her, she's a soldier, not a... weird shit expert. Maybe we oughta call for help."

"She didn't say it was safe, did she?" Itok asked, blinking several times.

"She did," KN replied. "Last message before she went full crazy."

"Alright, stand back," Nihlus said, kneeling down and activating his omni-blade. "Cutting it in three, two, one." He sliced through the black ring and watched as the wiring it was connected to flopped to the ground; the wires spurted a viscous, neon-green substance and writhed around for a moment before suddenly retracting back into the place it had come from next to the tablet. The cave began to fill with a low, wailing noise, and the prothean beacon began to pulse a steady blue, and the tangled masses of wiring which infested the cave began to slither back into the hole in the tablet. KN rushed back up to the main platform, catching Jane as the wires released her, and the headache Nihlus had been doing his best to ignore ever since he entered the artifact room disappeared.

"Huh," Nihlus said, looking around the cave; it was much bigger and far more open without the wires. He sighed, and smirked. "That went a lot better than I thought it would."

The beacon flared suddenly, and Nihlus instantly regretted mouthing off as he was hoisted into the air, tendrils of light snaking out from the beacon, and he screamed as his mind was flooded with a waterfall of senses.


	25. 6-2: DREAD

**CHAPTER TWO: "DREAD"  
January 12th**

Nihlus opened his eyes and groaned as his eyes adjusted to the harsh lights above; after a moment, his eyes recovered and he winced as he became aware of the fact that his skull felt like it'd been beaten with hammers for hours. He tried to get up and was halfway to a seated position when somebody propped him up from behind; two doctors, an asari and a binary with a fully-featured face, appeared in front of him and helped sit him up.

"Where am I?" he asked. blinking a few times.

"You're aboard the _Broadshield_ , the binary said, smiling. "Take it easy, alright? You've been out cold for a while now. I'm Doctor Idris, and this is Doctor Nossia."

Nihlus groaned again and rubbed at his fringe, feeling several spots where spots were either dented, replaced with prosthetic ones, or outright gone. "Oh, spirits," he mumbled, clearing his thoughts. "Larix, Jane, are they alright?"

Doctor Nossia shook her head and sighed. "Soldiers. Never concerned about themselves." She gestured to the bed opposite the one Nihlus was in; he recognized Jane, laying in bed with some sort of device attached to her head. "She's suffered some serious injuries, but we're estimating she'll make a full recovery, in time. We had to induce a coma; she was, ah, less than cooperative when she was brought in. Dr. Idris can explain better, I think."

"Mmm. I'm working off conjecture and eyewitness reports, but it sounds like the device you interfaced with attempted to send information into your mind; by the medical staff's estimate, we think your brain was spending all that time trying to sort through and manage your new knowledge. The device Jane interfaced with was more...aggressive, but we think her brain patterns indicate that she's doing much the same thing your body was."

The asari doctor smiled. "If all goes according to schedule, she'll be woken up later today, in fact. As for Mr. Quentis? He isn't in the best of shape - we had to patch him in over two dozen spots - but he will make a full recovery in time."

"Spirits. Could have gone a lot worse," he said quietly, shaking his head. "So? What happened to me? How long was I out for?"

"It's been just over a week," the binary said, expression neutral. "You were half-conscious when the prothean device let go of you; according to your squadmates you seemed unaware of your surroundings and kept on talking about how you had to warn everyone about something. With Jane reacting far worse to her ancient alien relic of the day, your squad figured it would be prudent to get you up here for treatment as fast as possible."

"Makes sense," he said.

"In any case, you were unconscious by the time you were placed in our care. Your brain activity was consistent with that of someone in REM sleep, so for the time being we figured it'd be best to see if you would wake up on your own," Doctor Idris continued. "Thankfully, you did."

"Mmm. So, am I cleared to be up now?"

"You are," Doctor Nossia said, her expression stern. "Commodore Rix wanted you to head straight to the CIC for a debrief, but he soon saw the error of his ways and now wishes for you to take a few hours to eat, rest, and recover. I would hate for you to disobey an order," the asari said, leaning in close.

"Okay, okay, I got it."

"That's good. There's a terminal over by the door there; feel free to download a map. Your gear was sent back to the _Lightspear_ , which is docked in hangar two; I believe your crew is there." Doctor Nossia nodded at Doctor Idris; the binary reached into the satchel he was carrying and stuffed a bottle full of a thick, dull-blue liquid into Nihlus' hands.

"Drink all of this before you eat anything and finish it within the next hour," the binary said, tapping the cap. "When you're done, just toss the cap in any of the bio containers and recycle the bottle."

"Alright. Thanks, doctors." Nihlus got up and stretched his arms; he scratched his legs, which itched slightly under the hospital tunic he'd been provided, before walking over to Jane. "Hang in there, Pilot," he said quietly, before taking a look around the medbay; it was nearly full, although most of the injured seemed to be recovering from minor wounds. Leaving the _Broadshield_ 's medical bay, he slowly made his way over to the nearest elevator, pausing several times to drink from the bottle he'd been given. The taste was odd, and reminded him of the "juice drinks" he'd occasionally scrounge up enough pocket change for as a kid - vaguely fruit-tasting with a strong, sickly-sweet aftertaste. By the time he was in the elevator, he'd finished half the bottle, and thanked the spirits that the cab was empty. The doors opened to reveal hangar two; a second frigate in Alliance colours with the iconic skull-and-knife emblem that he didn't recognize was parked in the bay next to the one which housed the _Lightspear_ , and as he made his way onto the hangar floor he noticed several of the Alliance ship's crew hanging out on top of the ship.

"Oi! You Nihlus?" shouted one of the human soldiers, waving.

"Yeah, who's asking?"

"We're from Jane's combat team," another shouted. "Heard you did our Pilot a solid, and fucked a bunch of Cerbies up! We owe you drinks next time you're free!"

Nihlus chuckled, and shook his head. "I'll take you up on that offer some other time, alright? I've been asleep for a week and really need to eat something."

The group of soldiers responded with cheers and went back to what Nihlus realized was some sort of impromptu picnic on top of the ship. _That's actually a nice idea_ , he thought to himself. _Maybe Valtha would be okay with it?_ The _Lightspear_ 's ramp was already up, and he walked up it and entered his ship's hangar; Raetor and Itok were busy constructing some sort of device, and Larix (who was propped up on a portable futon), Ultina and Valtha were playing a card game in the corner.

"Hey! The hero returns," Itok said, getting up from his work and running over to Nihlus. The salarian hugged him tightly, and pointed to the corner the two turians and asari were sitting at. "Lord Nihlus, your retainer Itok has procured for you a throne befitting your noble deeds." Nihlhus looked at the expressions of his crew - relieved and happy - then looked over to where Itok was pointing at. The area, which was were the crew kept their supply crates stowed, now housed an Alliance-style couch that simultaneously looked comfy and as if it had seen better centuries.

"Spirits take me, I take a week-long nap and you find a damn _couch_?"

"Bartered for it," Itok said proudly. "The _Diligent_ , one of the Alliance ships that came with the fleet? Was talking shop with an engineer, turns out one of their guys smuggled a couch into the hangar. Captain got pissed that the guy didn't ask for permission and wanted it gone, and, well, I thought the ol' Spear could use a, ahem, monument to cross-cultural cooperation."

"How long did it take you to come up with that?" Raetor asked, laughing.

Larix chuckled, stopping for a moment to cough, before waving Nihlus over. "Come on, just sit in the damn thing. Hell, I was laying there but figured you deserved to sit on it for a bit."

Nihlus clasped arms with Raetor, Larix, Ultina and Valtha before walking over to the couch and sinking into it.

"Okay," he said after a moment, "this is a comfy couch. Do I want to know what critical ship component we traded for this?"

"One double-flat of Paragrade, one case of Chanka Tuff bars, and six bags of rojek, flake-cut."

Nihlus groaned and rubbed at his head. "Does the captain of the _Diligent_ know you've just supplied their crew with a narcotic substance?"

"I looked this up. That coffee stuff they drink all the time? Way worse for you. Caf-fiene," he said, stumbling over the foreign word, "gives you the shakes and makes you all jacked up, can't sleep right if you get enough of it. Super addicting. Rojek? Totally safe, can't get addicted, just makes you a little more alert. Perfectly safe."

"It also gives you the worst spirits-damned shits if you chew too much of it. Please tell me you warned the poor saps you gave it to."

"Says on the bag, man. Right there. Bold letters. Not my fault if they can't read."

The next half-hour passed by quickly; Nihlus was content to snack on a ration pack (raka stew with an extra helping of hot sauce), finished off his bottle of medicine and dozed off for a minute or two; with everyone already in the hangar, he decided that they could just hold their briefing in the hangar.

"Alright. I'd say we did okay," Nihlus said, expression sombre.

"Speak for yourself, boss," Larix said, grinning.

"I'm being serious." Nihlus sighed, and closed his eyes. "Look, we did real good - first people from the Citadel to fight Pilots and win. But I think we all know those Pilots weren't fighting at the same level as, say, Jane or Zaeed. Almost as fast, yes, but they barely used their ordnance, didn't work together and came damn close to killing Larix. If that fight had gone on much longer, or if we were engaging them out in the open quarry? I'm not sure we would have all made it out alive," Nihlus said quietly. "Valtha, seal the secondary hatch, and as usual, contribute if you have any thoughts."

Itok cursed before raising his hand, and spoke after the ship's hatch closed. "I gotta agree with the boss on this one. Raetor and I got lucky - that cave was perfect for setting traps and getting good angles with the turrets, but out in the open we'd have been cut to pieces in no time. I do think our baseline tactics have merit to them - I mean, we're here and those Cerberus guys aren't - but we're gonna need more practice to pull wins off consistently."

"I wonder if the way our shields work acted against us," Larix said thoughtfully. "Our doctrine runs off of push-stop-recharge-push, right? While theirs is using mobility and their fast recharge times to never lose momentum. When our KBs are down, we're vulnerable since we rely heavily on 'em, but Pilots - feels to me like the shields are a secondary line of defense. Not sure how exactly we'll deal with that, but it's something to think about."

"But I think we've got the definte edge in terms of weaponry - at least, ignoring the sorts of ordnance and tech Jane and co. have," Ultina said, nodding. "Stuff like that phase thing and cloaking? We still need to work on counters to that, and explosives are always a pain in the ass, but I'm surprised how well our pre-fire tactics worked. Especially the concs."

"Pilots are fast-attack units first and foremost," Raetor said, cocking his head slightly. "Take that away, they're still dangerous as shit, but not nearly as threatening. Doesn't matter if you're krogan or human, if you're stuck on the ground you're not fighting back."

"Wonder if we can rig up a rapid-fire conc system," Ultina continued. "Those kits of theirs can't handle major changes in direction - throws them off balance, forces them to change attack vectors. Throw up a wall of conc shots, that'd help us rely less on pre-firing and focus more on redirecting their movements."

"Oh, in that vein? Those warp mines were fucking great," Larix said. "Same with the twenty-salvo - I'm surprised how effective that was."

"Man, we need a combat biotic," Raetor said, shaking his head.

"I mean, I'm easily capable of fighting with you guys," Valtha said, frowning. "Could probably take everyone here except for Nihlus."

"Right, but you're also our pilot. Nobody flies the Spear like you do, and the last thing we need is Itok driving the damn ship," Nihlus said, chuckling.

"I drive great, fuck off. Still, it's a good point - really wanna see what a biotic throw does to a Pilot going at top speed," Itok replied. "And Raetor? That Pilot-killer thing you rigged up? Worked like a fucking charm."

"Yeah, I know you were working on it," Nihlus said, "but I was under the impression it was a shrapnel cannon."

"Last-minute adjustment," the quarian replied. "Given all the redundant systems Pilots have I figured it'd be better to go for explosives rather than risk turning the enemy Pilots into very angry pincushions."

"Point. Could you rig up a miniature version of that? An omni-mounted spray of that stuff would be a perfect backup for emergencies. Fast way to get a Pilot out of melee range."

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do. In the meantime I'm working on reducing the backblast and making reloading easier, though I'm torn between making it a fire-and-forget sort of deal I could give to all of you."

"Hrm. Think about it - we'll work on that moving forward." Nihlus sighed, and sank further into the couch. "We've got a lot of training to do, but like Itok said, I think the ideas we're working from have a lot of merit. I want AARs done, not right now, but as soon as you find the time. We're the only ones from the Citadel who've fought Pilots and won, so don't be afraid throw any crazy ideas out there - we're literally writing the book as we go."

"So? What's the plan? And what the fuck happened to you, anyways?" Larix asked, as Ultina helped him into a seated position.

"Yeah, that beacon got all intimate with you," Raetor said. "Jokes aside though, when we were getting you outta there you were babbling about having to warn us and screaming about stopping something."

"I honestly have no idea," Nihlus replied, frustrated. "Lots of images in my head, but I can barely sort'em out. Scenes of stuff on fire? Gah," he said, rubbing at his head. "Hurts just trying to think about it."

"Well, hopefully someone can help with that," Larix said, sighing. "Frankly I'm worried about Jane."

"No shit," Itok said, shuddering. "That prothean device was weird, but that Precursor stuff is scary as shit. Did you hear what Jane was saying after those...wire things got to her?"

"Something about 'prothean filth' and killing the infidels or something," Raetor said. "I, uh, get the feeling the two groups weren't exactly friends."

"Would explain why the Alliance's ships don't work with the mass relays," Valtha said, expression thoughtful. "Maybe the relays aren't scanning to check for eezo signatures - they're scanning to look for Precursor tech and shutting down the instant it thinks an enemy vessel is trying to use it?"

"That's...I really don't like the implications of that," Nihlus said, sighing. "Well, in any case we're supposed to do a briefing with Commodore Rix - lemme comm him and figure out what we're supposed to do now."

"We gotta get dressed all fancy?" asked Larix, who, like the rest of the crew, was in casual clothing.

"I'll request an informal event," Nihlus said, groaning as he got off the couch.

Commodore Rix was, thankfully, unusually accomodating; he gave Nihlus and his crew two hours before the meeting and, without prompting, mentioned that there was no need to dress formally. Nihlus took the opportunity to use the bathroom, take a long, hot shower, scarf down two more ration packs and pass out in his bunk for exactly forty minutes. He woke up to find that they had another half-hour before the meeting; grumbling as he got out of bed, he rooted through his locker, found a comfortable pair of pants and a plain grey shirt to wear. When he returned to the _Lightspear_ 's hangar, he found the rest of the crew waiting for him (save Larix, who was fast asleep and snoring on the _Lighstpear_ 's newly acquired couch); they were gathered around a makeshift table fashioned out of an empty shipping crate with two Alliance soldiers - part of the group Nihlus had seen previously - and were playing some sort of video game running off of a small projector which was plugged into a binary soldier.

"Hey! Boss! How you doing?" asked Itok, not looking away from the holo.

"Good, good. We headed up to the meeting?"

"Ah, that's not for another thirty minutes," Raetor replied. Nihlus couldn't quite see what was going on on the holo, but there was a series of beeps and Raetor swore as he stood up. "Fuck, Itok, how are you so good at this?"

"All skill." Itok turned to the binary, who nodded and deactivated the holo before retracting the cable and the attached projector into its shoulder. "Nihlus, these guys are from the _Demeter_ \- the ship next to ours."

"Nice to finally meet you," the binary said, clasping arms with Nihlus. "I'm Vadim, or VD, and this is Sarah Patel," he said, gesturing to the brown-skinned human woman next to him.

"A pleasure. You guys said you serve in Jane's combat team? I thought Jane and her people were posted on the _Solar_ ," Nihlus asked.

"We were, but the _Solar_ got re-tasked - above our pay grade," Vadim said, shrugging. "We all got transferred - brand new ship and everything."

"Huh. Anyways, I figured it'd be a good idea to get to the meeting early," Nihlus continued.

"Why?"

"Itok, shut up. Someone wanna stay behind and watch Prince Snorefest over here?" he asked, gesturing at Larix. Nihlus glanced at his crew, and Valtha nodded.

"I'll take care of it - I got nothing to say about what happened on Kena besides the fact that I want absolutely nothing to do with it. Besides, I'll take watching this guy sleep over being in a meeting."

"Alright, let's go then." Nihlus turned Vadim and Sarah and made an inquistive noise. "Will KN be joining us for the debrief?"

"Yeah, and he said Jane'd be there - though she just got woken up, I think," Sarah said. "We'll get off your ship; we're supposed to be taking inventory or something anyways."

The group left the _Lightspear_ and re-entered the hangar bay, and had barely set foot on the hangar floor when a dark-skinned human appeared at the foot of the Alliance ship's ramp - which Nihlus figured was _Demeter_ \- and whistled.

"VD, Patel, where the fuck have you two been? Inventory was supposed to be done five minutes ago and I've got the XO ten seconds away from planting a foot in my ass - so get over here and get to work!"

"Sir!" The two glanced at Nihlus, and despite only having an X-shaped light for a face Nihlus swore VD was grinning. "Pleasure meeting ya," VD said, giving a half-wave as the pair took off at a sprint towards the _Demeter_ 's belly hatch.

"I like the SAAF," Itok said, giving the air a dignified sniff. "They understand that formality has its place - specifically, nowhere."

"Uh-huh," Ultina said, unconvinced. "I'm sure the SUAF's Engineer Corps really appreciated that sort of thinking."

"Hey, I didn't get kicked out or nothing," Itok shot back. "Honourably discharged, Ultina. I got the certificate to prove it."

"Yeah, 'cause they were sick of dealing with your shit," Raetor replied, laughing.

Nihlus simply sighed as the four got into an elevator and rode it up to the _Broadshield_ 's CIC; they arrived to find the room full of both Alliance and Citadel Fleet personnel, all gathered around the central holo eagerly chatting with one another. A secretary notice the group, and waved them over to a side door. "This way, please; KN, Jane and the others arrived early - the meeting is free to start with your arrival." The turian woman waved her omnitool over a scanner, and the side door hissed open to reveal a small conference room. The four stepped inside; KN and Jane were seated with a binary woman on the left side of the table, while Commodore Ri and a human wearing a uniform much like the binary woman's but with a complement of medals on his chest sat on the other side. Jane smiled and KN lit up his faceplate at their arrival; Jane, Nihlus noted, had several patches stuck onto both of her exposed arms, and was drinking from a bottle filled with a thick black liquid.

"Ah, Spectre Kryik," Commdore Rix said, nodding at the empty seats next to Jane. "Please, have a seat. This," he continued, gesturing to the human, "is Rear Admiral Haukea Kahoku."

"Mmm. It's a pleasure," Haukea said, extending a massive hand to Nihlus across the table. "I understand I have you and your team to thank for getting Pilot Shepard out of some trouble. You have my thanks."

"Not a problem, Rear Admiral."

"Hmph. No need to be humble, I've read the reports," the man said, smiling. "I'll skip the rest of my planned pleasantries, though, and get to the heat of the matter. Captain ED here," he said, nodding at the binary woman sitting by Jane and KN, "tells me that Jane interfaced with the Precursor tablet somehow, and according to Commodore Rix, you interfaced with the Prothean device. Can you confirm this for the record?"

"I can," Nihlus said.

"Can you remember anything from the message the prothean device attempted to tell you?"

"It's hazy, but it's a series of images. A warning of some sort." Nihlus furrowed his brow and rubbed at his head before continuing. "I - I can't recall much, but I think I saw a city of some sort, on fire. Some sort of meat, or flesh, arranged in a pile. Everything other than that is just a blur, almost like there was too much information for me to handle."

"And you, Pilot Shepard? I know you've just woken up, but if you can, we'd appreciate if you could attempt to explain what you saw," Commodore Rix said.

"It's not good," Jane said after a moment. "When Nihlus interfaced with the beacon, from what I read, it lifted him up, and attempted to direct information into his head - like a recording, or message, right?" Nihlus nodded, and Jane continued. "The - I - I'm not sure what happened after I entered the artifact room, and Captain ED says the cam footage and combat logs weren't salvageable due to some sort of temporal or spatial instability corrupting the data," she said, not noticing Commodore Rix's barely-concealed discomfort. "I can't tell you what happened physically - Nihlus and his team are probably better equipped to explain that - but the mental, assault, for lack of a better word, was clear in intent if not in detail." Jane shuddered and took a deep breath before speaking again. "I felt anger, hate, disgust overwhelming my thoughts. All I knew was that the Protheans did something blasphemous, to use the words in my memory - something that was not their place to do. I felt furious, filled with this, this zealotry that commanded me to purge the, I think the message said heathen, or infidel?"

"Mmm. Any images?" asked Haukea.

"Nothing that makes sense. Lots of screaming, flashing static; I think I saw a picture of a giant stone tablet covered in wires, too. Maybe it's the one Nihlus found?"

"Plausible," Captain ED said. "I'm afraid our attempts to do a deep dive into Jane's memory centres won't be happening, as I mentioned we were thinking of doing earlier, Rear Admiral. Jane's only been able to remember any of this - coherently, I might add - because we transferred her memories post-interface to an external source before rolling her brain back to before she entered the room. If we hadn't, the corruption caused by the tablet - which wasn't dissimilar to some forms of neural-disruption viruses I've seen being used - Jane would be dead. We recovered as much data as we could, but even acting as fast as we did much of the data was simply too corrupt or garbled to make sense of. Jane's literally telling you everything we know," ED said, shaking her head.

The room went silent as Caelis and Haukea considered the information for a minute, when Caelis suddenly looked up. "Wait. The precursor tablet...device aggressively attempted to take over or corrupt your mind, Pilot Shepard, correct? But the prothean device simply transmitted a message. Could the Alliance perform this... 'deep dive' into Nihlus' memories to copy and extract the message? We might not be able to understand what the purpose of the precursor device was, but this would at least allow us to see the prothean side of things. Given the fact that one message appears to have been a warning, the other perhaps at threat, I think we can all agree getting to the bottom of this situation is a top priority."

"That's...possible," Captain ED said, looking at Nihlus. "We'd have to install a high-speed dataport into Nihlus, and it'd be the first surgery of its kind."

"Why not attempt to salvage the prothean device? Couldn't we try and get someone else to interface with it, say, while already wearing an external memory device?" KN asked.

"We've already tried that," Haukea replied, sighing. "The device is intact, but according to the archaeologists working on-site something's happened to the device - its power source appears to be broken, and we have no way of knowing how to fix it."

"Would the surgery be risky?" asked Nihlus.

"There's always risks," KN replied, "but as far as surgeries go it's not the most intrusive. Most of the work would be mapping turian brain connections and whatnot; the dataport install itself is mostly automated via a combination of nanites and your own brain impulses."

The room fell silent again, and this time it was Jane who broke the silence. "Would it be possible to send some medical staff to the Citadel to assist with the operation, or at least planning for it? The Alliance's been working with medical teams around the galaxy to figure out safe dataport installation on every race anyways," she offered. "This'd just be the same program, only accelerated."

ED nodded, her expression neutral. "I'll need to talk to some people, and with you in private," she said to Haukea. "But I don't foresee any major issues. If everything is greenlit, the final decision rests with Nihlus, of course. I'd think he gets a say in whether or not we implant brand-new-technology into his skull."

Nihlus simply sighed. "There's really not much of an option, is there?" he said, staring at the table. "Temporal anomalies, the threats, the messages - every part of my instincts is screaming that something nasty's coming, and I'm not going to ignore that just because I dislike needles and surgery." He looked up, eyes determined. "If we can make it happen, I'm all for it."


	26. 6-2: INTERLUDE - CITADEL REACTIONS III

"Rise and shine, folks - welcome to Relay Beacon News. I'm Vinoa Thaava, presenting the Morning News. Today's top story: major revelations in the Dossinia Agriculture Concern scandal as two members of the company's board of executives are found guilty of first-degree murder. We speak with several of our correspondents on Sur'Kesh to see how this shocking turn of events will affect what is one of the largest companies in Citadel space. Also, an investigative look into the burgeoning buisness of cheating on university entrance exams; Senior Correspondent Caelana Eryx reports. But first, the surprise announcement that has the Citadel in quite the excited mood - the popular Systems Alliance retailer Lawson's has announced that it will be hosting its grand opening today, in partnership with Irix Trading Company. We have all the details, coming right up...

* * *

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 **Topic: UPCOMING SITE MERGER: Look inside for information, FAQ and more!  
In: Boards ► Announcements ► Ascent-Firelink Merger  
Red Smoothie **(Original Poster) (Moderator)  
Posted On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hello everyone! It is my pleasure to announce that, from February onward, Ascent! will be merging with the popular Alliance frontnet site, Firelink.

I know this announcement is a big one, and no doubt everyone's got a lot of questions, so the Mod team has gotten together to hopefully address any issues or concerns you guys have.

First, we'll address why the merger is happening. Our primary goal was to help bridge the gap between the Citadel's Extranet and the Alliance's Frontnet; as of right now, there's a real lack of sites that cater to both societies. Sure, you can visit Firelink, but you have to make a separate account there, and on our side of things Firelink caters only to those interested in Alliance culture. If you're, say, someone from Palaven who wants to see what Alliance holos would be worth binge-watching, you'd go to Unison or another Alliance site, or ask on Ascent! and hope someone from the Alliance happens to be on our site and ready to answer.

As our two societies learn to live alongside one another, no doubt there will be a rise in sites that are dedicated to bridging that gap. Ascent!'s motto is right there, at the top of every page you load: "Your one-stop site on the extranet." We want that to be true for everyone - Alliance or Citadel Space - and when the next generation of people look back and think about which sites were the first to take that step, to bridge that gap, we want to be right there as the first to make the jump.

We know there are no doubt a lot of concerns regarding the merger, so we've put together an FAQ below. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to make a post in the "Questions Regarding Merger" thread below this one in the merger subforum.

Q: How will this merger affect me as a user?

A: Other than having a chance to interact with more people from around the galaxy, it really won't. We chose to merge with Firelink thanks to a near-identical set of rules with respect to ettiquette and what constitutes acceptable speech; as a result on a day-to-day basis you'll have the exact same experience.

Q: Will this affect free use of Ascent? What about subscriptions with Ascent Credit?

A: Free users will experience no change; subscribers will, in fact, have more features available to them. As of now, subscriptions cost either 5 or 10 credits a month, and provide a bunch of extra features including but not limited to expanded inbox size, improved friends-list categories, discounts on merch, etc; these payment plans will remain the same, but now your basic or pro subscription will also give you benefits that subscribing on Firelink would have given you. Instead of having to subscribe to both sites, your new account will give you access to the best of both sites!

For a full list of subscriber benefits, please see the Donation & Subscription FAQ page.

Q: Will the merger affect the site itself, and how it operates?

A: Not really. We'll be adding new subforums as well as re-organizing the Community Clusters to make it easier to find sub groups that interest you, but otherwise the site will work exactly the same. Firelink operated more or less just like ours, which made the integration process surprisingly easy.

The biggest difference you'll see is better response times from moderators; Firelink has a mod team that's as big as ours, many of whom are binary - which lets them get through posts and support tickets much faster than we normally can.

Q: What if I already have accounts on both sites?

A: You can merge them right now, if you'd like. In the User Control Panel, you'll see a new tab called "Firelink-Ascent Account Merger-"; from there you'll be guided step-by-step through the merger process. Username conflicts will be handled on a case-by-case basis, so the faster you do this the better!

Furthermore, if you've already subscribed to Silver or Gold membership on Firelink, once the merger occurs you'll have the option of either refunding the credits for subscription time past January 31st, or routing that money into subscription time. We'll send messages to the affected users when the time comes, so keep your eyes open.

Q: I don't like this! Keep the robots out of my websites, grr!

A: Too bad? You're free to use other sites like Chatter and SyncNet, and on the Alliance side of things there's XOP and Unison Street - but don't be surprised if they all start merging in the near future. Still, this is the net we're talking about - someone's bound to make a site you'll like. Spirits, you could even make it yourself.

Q: What happens if someone on Firelink has the same username as me? Who gets priority?

A: We're actually still trying to come up with a good solution; as of right now, we're thinking of letting you keep your username and appending a tag - so if your username was, say, "Mr. Turian," and someone had that username for some reason on Firelink, your new username would be "Mr. Turian (A)."

The idea's not set in stone, though, so if you've got a suggestion please feel free to post in the Username Merger Suggestions thread in the main Ascent-Firelink Merger subforum.

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 **Topic: Pilots and Cadres 101: A Primer  
In: Boards ► Military & Weaponry ► Systems Alliance  
DoubleFistin' **(Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Posted On Jan 12th 2158:  
Heya Citadel folks! Name's DoubleFistin' and I'm an ex-Pilot - been retired for sixty years now. There's a lot of information about Pilots and Titans floating around on the frontnet and extranet, most of it poorly-sourced and even more of it plain old made up. So! I'm here to help clear that shit up. I'll be doing a bunch of posts about cadres, writing what I know and whatnot.

"Okay," I can hear y'all asking, "why bother doing this here? Why not just write on your own journal site or something?" Truth is, me and a bunch of friends are working on a documentary about cadres and stuff, and we don't want it to be super dry and historical - there are books and stuff for that - nor do we want it to be all stupid overproduced - because you could just go watch a movie instead. Our goal is to show the way things are on the ground - how Pilots live, what they do, etc. That costs money, and I need your help, etc, etc. I'm not just gonna beg for your money- over the course of the next few months, I'm gonna be putting together little profiles about our Cadres and you folk can ask questions to your hearts' content. Me and my friends will try and answer those questions as best we can - and, when the time comes, hopefully convince you to fork over your hard-earned credits.

Of course, a ton of this junk's classified and I'm in no mood to get hauled into prison, so don't expect me to go telling you people classified info or anything - but it'll for sure be better than your usual run-of-the-mill documentary. Everything you see here's been run by the cadre I'm covering - but if I get the feeling someone's leaving something important out, you bet I'll mention it.

Today, we're gonna start with the cadre I used to be a part of - Barker's Bastards! That's not the Cadre's actual name, mind you - technically it's the "Angel Aces," but that's a stupid name and nobody who knows what they're talking about uses it. Barker's Bastards was founded back during the beginning of the Liberation War by Robert Taube, a.k.a "Barker." (Records are split as to how he got the nickname; most common theory refers to his irate nature and awful breath. More on that later.) Guy was an ex-IMC Pilot - both the soldier and the driving kind - who ended up joining the Militia in 2FP, and by 20FP ended up in charge of his very own Militia Brigade, the Angel City Elite.

Guy was a fucking badass who liked two things: kicking ass, and drinking. A lot. You're gonna read articles and see movies and whatnot that portray Barker as a drunken lout. Those portrayals are probably underselling it. Dude drank a ton - and lemme tell you, even with the far more basic augmentations an IMC Pilot would have compared to what we have today, Barker was one-of-a-kind. His drunken rants were ridiculous and his booze-breath legendary. "But Double," I hear you say, "isn't having an alcoholic for a superior a bad thing?"

Okay, yeah, it kind of is. But Barker managed to sober up - mostly - and by 25FP the ACE (eh? See what Barker did there? Wait, you guys gotta tell me if that acronym works in your languages...) was known for pulling off victories out of impossible situations on a regular basis. Their raids are well-documented and if you're up for some great reading, look up their actions on Typhon, Megiddo and Sastasha. Barker helped develop a lot of the tactical playbook Pilots draw from today, and in an environment where the average soldier faced terrible odds for surviving a protracted engagement, Barker routinely managed to always come out on top. He even managed to take down six Titans while on foot - while hungover, I might add - with nothing more than a handgun, a dataknife, eighteen satchel charges and an antique double-barreled shotgun. Don't believe me? Look that shit up - there's helmet-cam footage from the incident. (Word of warning, there's some really, really colourful language in there. Like, probably not safe to listen to in public.)

After the Liberation War, Barker didn't take up a cushy leadership position like a lot of the other high-ranking Militia folk; rather, he stuck with the Angel City Elite and dedicated himself to expanding the brigade and rooting out IMC holdouts. When the Fold Wars rolled around in 110FP, Barker's Angel City Elite were right there on the frontlines busting skulls like nobody's business. Once the war was over, Barker went into semi-retirement; he stayed on as a consultant for the brigade as it transitioned from the Angel City Elite to the Angel Aces cadre, and spent a lot of time developing tactics and doctrine for the SAAF, and data obtained from some of his fights form the basis of training today's Pilots in how to fight a Titan while on foot. Most of his time, though, was spent pursuing his love of all drinks alcoholic, and the distillery he founded - Barker's Select - lives on today as one of the most highly-regarded producers of whiskies, scotches and bourbons in the Alliance. (If you can get your hands on any of the Reserve bottles, do it. Good stuff.)

Barker died in 152FP, but his legacy lives on in the two things he loved most: booze, in the form of Barker's Select, and being a badass, in the form of Barker's Bastards. The Double-B, as it is sometimes called, is one of the least formal military organizations in this galaxy; while most cadres are already informal compared to the SAAF (which, if I did my research right, is itself crazy informal compared to the rest of you lot), Barker's Bastards barely has any sort of rank structure at all. Cadre decisions are 100% democratic, with nobody holding more say than anyone else, and despite having a traditional colour scheme there aren't any requirements for uniforms. The Double-B goes where it wants, when it wants, and for our human members, thanks to alcohol-filtration and InstaSober (not a shill for 'em, promise!) we carry on Barker's legacy of having a good time, all the time. (This is in stark comparison to those M-COR tightwads who are no fun at all and are probably frothing at the mouth while reading at this. Go pound sand!) Jokes aside, our training regimen is as tough as any other cadre's - we fight hard and party harder, as the saying goes.

Anyways, that's all for today. I hope you've enjoyed this post, and I'm looking forward to providing the Citadel - and Ascent! - with more stories like this in the future. Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

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 **►NecroMechanoid** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hey, I've got a question - has the Alliance ever considered making Titan-sized maces or scythes? You already use big swords, so it seems like the next logical step.

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Pilots and Titans have comissioned their own or bought them from a couple niche weapon manufacturers; Pilot Cadres aren't allowed to spend more than a percentage of our SAAF-alloted budget on "exotic and unusual weaponry outside of the general supply chain," a.k.a "weird shit that only you nutcases would think of using."

But yeah, as far as your examples both of those exist. I've seen quite a few folk mount scythes or scythe-shaped-blades on the ends of their longer weapons to make polearms / scythe-bayonets, and while maces aren't super common I know a lady who uses one she built herself. I haven't met anyone wielding just a scythe in-person, but I have heard stories - not sure how much stock to put in it, to be fair.

 **►SurpriseMe** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Three questions for you, if you wouldn't mind!

1\. Are there any binary pilots?

2\. Is the social pressure to upload after a certain age a non factor for pilots?

3\. If a pilot uploads their brain can they still work as a pilot?

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
1\. Depends how you wanna define the term. If by binary Pilot you mean, a binary soldier who generally restricts themselves to using their infantry chassis and is, say, paired with another binary who generally restricts themselves to using their Titan chassis, then yes, there are. The Pilot-Titan dynamic, at least historically is all about an organic human working with a mechanical binary to help each other fight beyond their normal limits, but since the lines between the two are getting blurrier by the year that definition's slowly kind of losing its meaning. At least, that's what I think.

Anyways, binaries are free to apply / be selected for Pilot School, and uploaded humans are free to apply / be selected for Titan training, at least according to the rulebook. I didn't see any examples of it during my training and i haven't heard of this happening, but I'm sure it's been a thing at least once.

2\. More or less, yeah. Since regen lets us humans basically fight, well, forever if we really, really want, people tend to be less annoyed about it. Oldest Pilot according to the records is Maximilian Blisk from the Nadir Cadre - dude signed on as a Pilot in 185FP and hasn't retired since.

3\. Yup! I was a digital - an uploaded human - for the last six years of my service; digitals in binary bodies working as Pilots isn't an uncommon sight!

 **►Slvrcrystalc** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
You guys, pilots, can retire? I thought you were practically immortal or something. Though now that I type that it sounds silly. I guess I thought you were more like asari with a pretty long tour of duty compared to the rest of us short lived meatbags.

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Kinda works off what I said above. Technically Pilots can retire whenever they want - you could graduate, get into a Cadre and quit the same day, if you wanted. Off the top of my head I think the average service time is around 50-60 years, though to be honest I'm not sure why it's that way. Also, I know quite a few folks who left the service and came back a while later.

 **►Sevoris** (Verified Turian Army) (Verified 26th Armiger Legion) (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hey there - a few questions from me and my squadmates.

\- Do "micro-titans" exist?

\- Are Titans used in Special Operations? How do Titans play a role in infiltration ops and force / forward recon?

\- How specialized do Pilots and Cadres get? How much of a Pilot's arsenal is custom gear?

 **►All4D64** (Verified SAAF ) (Verified Titan) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
I'll chime in on this one - I'm an Titan with the 6-4 Cadre.

\- "Mini-Titans" are a thing; they got developed for grunts / special forces guys who wanted the protection and firepower of a Titan Chassis without all the training and cost. They're officially called Mobile Armour and while they're not super common I've seen them out in the field a bunch of times. You can look this up on NexusPedia, but in short they're about half the size of the standard Titan chassis, come loaded with a "dumb" VI and while they're not nearly as badass as our real Titan Chassis they're still pretty intimidating.

\- Yup, lots of forward recon, covert search-and-destroy and the like. It probably depends on the Cadre. The 6-4 gets tasked with this sort of stuff all the time. You'd be surprised how easy it is to cloak a Titan Chassis (there are some fantastic prank vids on the frontnet.) It also depends on the Cadre - Barker's Bastards, also known as Barker's Fuckers and Barker's Bullshitters (I love you too Double, say hi to Dinky for me!) are widely renowned for their long-running record of having most of their "stealth" operations go very, very loud, obviously by no fault of their own. Titans can make for excellent ambush units, work well as decoys and are surprisingly useful for long-range takedowns.

\- Double mentioned above that Cadres don't get to spend all of our budget on exotic gear, but honestly that's fine. We get to requisition tons of custom gear that's built to our specifications; Pilot School, as well as individual cadres, help oversee the procurement process and a lot of companies produce variants of their equipment that's built to either cadre or individual specs. Lots of Pilots carry one-off designs that are built by gunsmiths and the like, too; just going off my fireteam I'd say in terms of weapons and ordnance it's about a 50/50 split between cadre-issue and personalized gear.

Most Cadres aim to be somewhat flexible - it always pays to be prepared - but most groups have a few types of operations that we specialize in. Like Barker's Assholes! They specialize in drunkenly crashing into a place and causing so much shit to explode that the enemy retreats out of frustration.

I'm only kind of kidding. Look it up. NexusPedia has more than enough articles to back me up on this one.

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
This is my thread, kid! Fuck you and get out. (I love you too and Dinky says hi!)

Answering an earlier question from TuchankaTrooper:

"Question to Doublefistin': Do Pilots take some kind of oath when they become one?"

Yup. Real short so we can all get on with our lives. If you're a Pilot:

"I am a Pilot. I am one with my Titan. I will uphold the mission. I will protect my Titan. For the Alliance, with my Titan by my side, I serve, unto and beyond death."

If you're a Titan:

"I am a Titan. I am one with my Pilot. I will uphold the mission. I will protect my Pilot. For the Alliance, with my Pilot by my side, I serve, unto and beyond death."

I know a lot of Cadres have their own initiation rites; those M-COR paint-lickers have one that's, like, two hours long and involves a billion speeches. The 6-4 is a big family and makes everyone hug each other. Boooring. Ours is way more fun! Can you guess what it involves?

 **►CountessFloop** (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Does it involve being an asshole and throwing up all over the place?

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 **►Advent Leader** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
What makes a Pilot and a Spectre different, in your own opinion?

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hey, Countess Floop? It totally does. And it's great.

Advent Leader: That's sort of an odd question and I'm gonna try and answer it - y'all are free to correct me if I get shit wrong since I'm working off some research from GalaxyHub.

If I'm correct, Spectres are basically your Council's wetwork guys, right? No laws apply to them, no constraints, just getting shit done? It's actually pretty different from being a Pilot.

We're pretty independent, sure, but we still have to answer to and abide by all the regular military rules and laws that the rest of the SAAF has, and if we go all ham somewhere and kill a bunch of civilians not only do we face judicial punishment, most Cadres have their own sort of, ah, "judicial" system set up. Spectres are closer to, say, black ops agents, while you can think of us as organized and quasi-independent groups of special forces.

 **►Defenestrator** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Did some research and I've got questions, too.

\- First, I was kind of confused - this is probably a misconception, but aren't Pilots linked to their Titans for life? Do you still maintain close contact with your, err, ex-Titan?

\- There's this turian series called "ProtoArmour" that has robot suits that combine together to make bigger, better robot suits. Is this a thing and if it isn't, why not?

\- Going off what you mentioned above, you say that most pilot cadres are very informal in structure. How do you enforce discipline then? How would a 'bad' Pilot be disciplined? Are there 'bad' Titans too?"

 **►All4D64** (Verified SAAF ) (Verified Titan) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
\- Pilots used to be linked to their Titans for life and required a long, painful surgery to undo the link. Nowadays it just takes a few minutes to reset, though the way the link works has changed over the years, too. Back in the old days the link literally overwrote certain brain functions to help interface and use a Titan Chassis in tandem with one of our AI ancestors; nowadays the link is sort of an add-on that lets the two minds work in total synchronization for maximum combat efficiency. Still, if a Pilot is retiring, their partner Titan probably will too, and vice-versa, and there's no better friend or family member than someone who's been fighting alongside you and inside your head for years.

-Insha'Allah I will NEVER HEAR THIS QUESTION AGAIN. Sorry, it's the second think drunk people always ask me, after "how's the sex" or something. In all seriousness combining robots is cool but firmly in "rule of cool" territory.

\- Double mentioned that most Cadres have an informal but enforced code of conduct in addition to following the base rules set out for us by the SAAF. To clarify, the SAAF rules that apply to us aren't quite the same ones that apply to the average soldier, and they tend to cover things like rules of engagement, civilian interactions and the like. They tend to leave stuff like uniforms, inter-unit conduct and public presence up to each cadre.

For example, the 6-4 is a family; our own "court," if you wanna call it that, is a meeting between the person(s) who violated our code of conduct and our most senior members, the goal being reconciliation and punishments designed to reinforce the importance of proper conduct. I know the Marauder Corps has an actual legal court set up for themselves, and that the Nadir guys have some weird combination counselling-therapy session that's also a trial-by-combat or something.

Still, most Pilot errors are small ones that are easily corrected; there are only two Pilots in history who went rogue. Titans? That number's zero - after all, part of our baseline programming from hundreds of years back is a penchant for loyalty, not to mention the fact that if you're the sort of person who gets selected to be a Pilot or Titan you're probably not interested in being an asshole.

 **►Remegar** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
So how does the whole partnership with your Titan and vise versa go? You guys said you're linked, but what's life like? Is it like you're married but with guns, or is it like cops that live together?

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Depends. (I know, that answer gets annoying.) There are married Pilot-Titan couples who, well, live like they're married because they are. I won't pretend to speak for everyone, but during my service it was pretty much like living with your best friend, who also happens to be your most trusted squadmate. I'm not a cop so I can't speak to that for certain, but I imagine it's probably similar.

 **►Dawn Of Socket** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:

USER All4D64: _That number's zero - after all, part of our baseline programming from hundreds of years back is a penchant for loyalty_

Wait, so you're literally programmed to be loyal to your human masters? That's slavery, but I guess you're programmed to enjoy it. And I thought the quarians were bad. You people disgust me.

[USER BANNED, TWENTY-FOUR HOURS / +5 INFRACTION]

 **►GroundPounder** (Verified SAAF ) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hey, dipshit, back off. You don't talk to a binary - let alone a Titan - like that. Ever.

Try that shit in person with any Alliance people around and you'll get the beating of a lifetime, asshole.

...not quite how I wanted to introduce myself to this forum, but whatever. Go fuck a battery.

[USER BANNED, ONE HOUR / +1 INFRACTION]

 **►EvilRobotOverlord** (Moderator) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Cut that out, both of you. Dawn, go cool off and if you want to keep being rude to people find somewhere else to do it. GroundPounder, I get that you're upset, but thinly-veiled threats of physical violence are not the answer. Please remain respectful, and in the future report users to the mod team if they're violating the code of conduct.

Everyone else, please use this as a learning experience.

 **►Sur'KeshABC** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Yeesh.

To be fair, I'm kind of surprised it took that long for the anti-Alliance sentiment to show up in this thread.

Anyways, I tried looking this up, but all the answers were either out of date or super clinical. Wanted to get real-life answers - how are Binaries raised? Do they have parents or do they come from digital creches?

Also regarding the military in general, with binaries so prevalent how much has the SAAF incorporated automation and cyberwarfare? I imagine being binary makes handling logistics much easier.

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 **►Flashlight Party** (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hey, I'll jump in on this one. Source: I'm binary!

Binaries used to be produced in creches, but that hasn't been common practice for about 150 years or so. Nowadays most binaries are raised in some sort of familial unit, whether that's the classic human two-parent style or a binary communal unit. Ever since scientists figured out how to derive new code seeds from copied brain scans, it's been somewhat common to have mixed-species families; my dad and younger brother, for example, are binary while my mom, younger brother and older sibling are human. Binaries are raised slightly differently since we come pre-loaded with a lot of stuff that human kids have to learn over the course of 5-7 years; since information isn't an issue most of the focus in raising binaries comes in socialization, learning how to interact with people both human and binary, self-care, and general cultural learning.

I haven't done my service yet, but I did intern for the Ministry of Defence last year as a secretary. Lots of stuff in our society is automated, like agriculture and paperwork and shipping, and from the stuff I've read cyberwarfare is pretty scary thanks to how good binaries are at, well, you know, hacking and stuff, plus we have better time-dilation.

Also, paperwork is awful even with automation and I can't imagine how bad it is for organic people. I shudder thinking about having to fill everything in manually.

 **►TargetTeen** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Could you guys clear something up for me? Why exactly are cadres separate from the military in general? Are Pilots so flexible that any semblance of military adherence would hinder them? Or do they just want to not have to deal with politicians?

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Lots of this is history and tradition but I'll try and provide my outlook on t his.

Cadres are a direct descendant of the Brigade system we used back when we were the Frontier Militia - individual fighting units that could be flexibly re-tasked when necessary, perfect for a militia fighting a numerically superior foe. As we transitioned from Militia to Alliance, the SAAF reorganized, but you can still see the brigade system's legacy in the way we're set up. Unlike the Turian Army and the SUAF our military's still very much split into branches that are expected to be either self-sufficient or able to work with others to cover for that.

I dunno exactly why cadres got to keep the brigade system going in terms of organization; I would guess that, like you say, we're flexible enough that forcing all Pilots to be tied to a specific branch of the military would be a waste. Remember, you gotta approach this from the SAAF's way of thinking - we operate from the idea that multiple self-sustaining combat units working in tandem to multiply force is more effective than having units that rely on each other to function properly. If you follow that logic, it doesn't make sense to force Pilots to stick to a specific section of the military - and besides, Pilots do join branches of their own volition anyways.

Oddly enough Pilots do have to deal with politics, though not in the same way that other, more structured branches of the military do. At least when I was around there was a lot of jockeying for the good missions - nobody wants to be stuck sitting around waiting for something to come up - and it was often a fight to get funding for what we thought would be necessary tech but everyone else sees as stupid / overkill / impractical. Honestly the politics probably keeps our worst impulses in check - I know Pilots have, historically, had a bad habit of seeing a shiny new gun and going out of the way to use it even if it's not necessarily as practical as something that's been tried-and-tested.

 **►Gladsome Praetorian** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
What's the exact legal status of a Titan cadre? Do they have to register, or can anyone start one up? Do they have any particular obligations, or can they basically do their own thing within the limits of the law?

Are some cadres tied to specific colonies or groups?

 **►All4D64** (Verified SAAF ) (Verified Titan) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
It's kind of complicated, but it basically boils down to this: any Pilot or Titan can make a cadre so long as they meet the minimum requirements. Off the top of my head, you gotta have at least two dozen Pilot-Titan pairs who are all Generation 100 or above, a ship that meets minimum requirements as set out by Pilot School plus crew (engineers, helmspeople, medical team, etc.), signed documents from each Pilot and Titan detailing their proposed cadre and why they're forming it, and letters of reference for each member by another Pilot or Titan by servicepeople senior to the them.

If all that's in order, you have to pass a group test of some sort - contents are strictly classified but rumours say it's some really traumatic stuff, and that's saying something considering we have to saw our limbs off in the sims on several occasions. Brass wants to make sure that if you're gonna run a cadre, that you're leadership potential, which I think is fair. Once all that's passed, you get to put your emblem and motto up on the Pilot School wall, and then, well, you go do your thing.

Cadres used to be a lot more closely tied to specific places, but nowadays a lot of them just carry the names of where they used to be based near. For example the Aegis Praxis used to be based on the planet Praxis, but nowadays they're mobile like most cadres. Same with the Harmonious Defenders, the Angel Aces, and plenty of the other old cadres.

In terms of ties to groups, cadres that are integrated into branches of the military probably meet what you're asking. There are lots of Pilot units attached to Orbital Drop Troops, SAAF regulars, etc. There's even a cadre attached to the Intelligence Services, and the Expeditionary Fleet's cadre is well known, too.

 **►Defenestrator** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Do Cadres have their own in-house artists that do the paintjob for Titans and your guns? I've seen some of their work, and they go from really fucking awesome, to very sexy, to outright weird.

Also, do the bigger Cadres also have merchandise to sell for their fans? Because I'm wiling to throw credits in your general direction for miniature Titan assembly kits.

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Yup! Most paintjobs you see are all done in-house. Usually it's done by the Pilot or Titan themselves, though some cadres will have resident artists in charge of ensuring the art sticks to a theme or something. As for weird? Well...I guess you gotta be kind of weird to be a Pilot or a Titan. Not in a bad way, mind you.

Regarding merch: yeup. Easy cash is something cadres are always cool with. Replica kits of Titans can usually be bought from their original manufacturing company; if you want branded ones with specific cadre art / addons, it gets a bit more complicated since you have to sort through all the vendors and distributors. Firelink's got a sub-cluster called "Titan Kit Collectors" that has an up-to-date list! (If you buy a Barker's Bastards kit, just a heads up that we're doing a 40% discount AND you can buy them at Lawson's Citadel branch if they're not all sold out yet.)

[USER WARNING / +1 INFRACTION]  
[PLEASE LIMIT SELF-PROMOTION TO THE APPROPRIATE SUBFORUMS. SEE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR DETAILS]

 **►Silvered Wings** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Here's a few questions: First, how big are most Pilot cadres? Second, is there a lot of movement between them? And third, do cadres ever come in to conflict, as in the shooting kind?

 **►DoubleFistin'** (Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:

Uhh...whoops. Probably shoulda read the rules before trying to sell shit, hehehehe. Anyways!

Oddly enough, that's partially classified. It's up to each cadre to release info on hard numbers; the Double-B doesn't give a shit about stuff like that. I'm not up to date but the last time I checked - about a year or two ago - Barker's Bastards had 192 Pilots and Titans (for a total of 96 paired Pilot-Titans), plus support staff, engineers, maintenance crew, etc. That's probably either close to or just above average numbers-wise.

Transfers between cadre aren't common, but they're not unheard of. There aren't really any rules regarding transfers other than that a) they have to be a decision your partner's okay with, b) someone with seniority on both sides of the transfer has to approve, and c) the transfer is practical to carry out - ie, if you're stationed in the ass end of Alliance space and you wanna transfer to, I dunno, a cadre based near Harmony that's not going to be approved until your cadre returns back to regular space. Still I can only think of maybe two or three people I know who transferred in all my years as a Pilot.

Last question, hoo boy. Thankfully we've avoided all-out fighting between cadres, but there've been time when it's come damn close. The last big one was between Nadir and the Atoners back in 230 FP; both were fighting over a mission to capture a bunch of Apex Mercenary leadership. Job was to capture the mercs in question alive and unharmed; Nadir already had a reputation for "accidentally" losing Apex prisoners to accidents, negligent discharges and whatnot, and the Atoners weren't backing down over it. Thankfully command just gave the job to the Marauder Corps and told the other two to cut their shit out, but there were a few weeks were things were getting really, really tense.

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 **Topic: Alliance Snack Bulk Review, Vol.1  
In: Boards ► Food & Drinks ► Reviews ► Systems Alliance ► Snacks  
TuchankaTough **(Original Poster) (Ascent!)  
Posted On Jan 12th 2158:  
Yup, it's me, Tuchanka Tough again! I know a bunch of stores stocking Alliance stuff just opened, but I managed to get my hands on a whole bunch of goodies - including some which aren't in stores yet.

Thanks go to HornySalarian, who was selling these packages - he hasn't been online in a bit (which is not uncommon if you look at his posting history), and AFAIK he sold out of packages around the beginning of the month.

Packages shipped on time, but it looks like they got stopped by customs for nearly a week. They didn't take anything out of the package, thankfully.

Here are the contents:

2 boxes of Taiyang brand "Choco-Pie" chocolate-covered snack cake. Individually wrapped, 12 per box.

1 stick of Lotte-Samsung brand "Black Black" caffeine stimulant gum. 8 (human-sized) portions.

1 "Variety Mix" of Tiger Sun brand "Army Chow!" heat-and-eat meals. 12 pouches, assorted types.

12 cans of "Hyper-Sweat" (?) energy drink.

6 cans of Pilot brand coffee drink; two "Black Hole Dark Roast," two "Midday Decaf" and two "Midnight Light Roast."

1 bottle of Jakarta brand "Cracked Shell Bourbon" alcoholic drink. 52% ABV.

1 bottle of Barker's Select brand "Bastard's Moonshine" alcoholic drink. 81% ABV.

HornySalarian also threw in a packet of "Black Black x Pocky: Barker Flavour Limited Edition" which appears to be a collaboration between the Barker's Select distillery and the Lotte-Samsung company. One packet, contains 12 alcohol-infused chocolate-covered biscuits.

Starting with the food:

\- I gotta say those Choco-Pies were pretty decent. I was looking forward to trying chocolate, since all the reviews and posts agree that it's sweet and tasty - and what do you know, the chocolate covering is just that. Kinda sticks to your mouth, though, but I had no shortage of drinks to wash it down. The snack cakes themselves were a little drier than I'd have liked, but as far as pre-packaged goods go it was pretty great. Chocolate has a taste that's hard to explain beyond it being sweet, but the snack cake tastes just like asari lossofin rolls.

\- Black-Black didn't really do it for me. Tastes..weirdly herbal, for lack of a better term, and while gum isn't a new concept to krogans it's still a weird sensation. Also, that herbal aftertaste did not go away for, like, half an hour, no matter what I did. Didn't notice any stimulant effects, though that could just be me being krogan and all.

Army Chow was interesting, and probably my favourite. I didn't eat all of them but I did try a few. They were split into three sub-categories; breakfast, lunch and dinner - turns out the idea of around three meals a day is almost universal.

\- For breakfast, "Assorted Fruit Oatmeal." Fuck this shit. Looks like puke, smells like puke, tastes like puke. Eugh.

\- Another breakfast dish, "Charkway and Beef Congee." Packet was divided into two sections, one containing a white porridge with meat chunks and another with a fried dough thing, similar to a novia. This was really delicious - the porridge was pretty plain, but inoffensive, but the novia went really well with it. Huge fan of beef - comes from some sort of four-legged animal called a cow - tastes great.

\- For lunch, "Pizza (Canada Style)." From a few minutes of research, Canada used to be this place on Earth (the Alliance homeworld which got blown up), but nothing about it suggests that pizza originates from there. Anyway, it's this sort of triangular slice of crispy-ish dough, with two kinds of meat and some sort of vegetable thing on top of a layer of what the packet says is cheese. Didn't taste like any cheese I've ever had, but this was good. Would eat more of this, for sure.

EDIT: One of my friends who was lucky enough to visit Harmony says that instant pizza is nowhere as good as the real thing, which is traditionally cooked in a wood-fire oven.

\- And lastly, for dinner, "Miso Ramen." Alliance Standard is a weird language with a lot of leftover words from old languages, huh. Miso is, according to NexusPedia, fermented bean paste with a bunch of other stuff in it, and ramen is dough shaped into "noodles" which look uncomfortably like asari scalps. This one was a soup-based dish; the noodles go into the soup. This one tasted really good, lots of depth to the flavour, but void's shit I can't help but feel like I'm eating an asari's head or something. My mom would probably faint if she saw people eating this stuff.

Drinks time! I haven't broken into the booze yet since I want to save that for a big alcohol special, but I did try one of each coffee and one can of Hyper-Sweat.

Coffee is fantastic, people. I can't tell too much difference between the variants, and none of them gave me any of the advertised stimulant effect, but hoo boy this stuff is tasty. I'm actually headed down to the Lawson's to buy as much of this shit as I can.

As for the unfortunately-named Hyper-Sweat, I'm really glad it doesn't taste anything like, well, skin secretions. Honestly it tastes like an unsweetened Paragrade with a tangy aftertaste. Someone should really tell their marketing people to change the name.

Anyways, that's all for now - I'll be back soon with another set of reviews!

 **(Showing page 1 of 122)**  
 **►Twochanka** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Damn, I missed being able to buy one of those snack packs by a few hours. Still, I got lucky - a friend of mine was nice enough to make some coffee for me, from scratch (you have to grind beans to make it.)

Life-changing experience right there. It's SO GOOD.

I'm also going to Lawsons and fuck you don't you dare buy it all! Save some for the rest of us!

 **►Eeezotrooper** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Aw, was hoping you'd try the booze. Anyone know if the stores selling Alliance stuff are carrying alcohol yet?

 **►Ascalon** (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hi there Eezotrooper - I work at the Lawsons, and was part of the warehouse crew that did inventory for our first shipment from Harmony. No booze yet, I'm afraid, though I did overhear some of the guys in procurement say they're aiming for early February at the earliest.

 **►deth_to_the_geth_1965** (Banned)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
[USER BANNED, PERMANENT / POST DELETED]  
[PLEASE STOP. AUTOMOD FILTERS YOU AUTOMATICALLY; THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS TRY A DIFFERENT USERNAME.]

 **►Mr. Chompers** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Gotta agree with Twochanka, man, you gotta drink that booze and tell us how it is. Someone's gotta take the plunge for the rest of us.

Kind of disappointed to hear that Hyper-Sweat is so normal. My sister got to go to Harmony and she sent me a picture of it - you'd think with a name like that their sales must be absolute trash.

 **►Memetic_Barrier** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Wait, what's the difference between the canned coffee and the one from the beans? Do they actually taste different?

 **►KretekStain** (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Depends on the quality of both; really good canned coffee is indistinguishable from the real thing, but even the shitty ones come close. Honestly unless you're a coffee connoisseur or an addict (some would say the two kind of go hand-in-hand) you probably won't be able to notice any difference.

 **►Green Stew** (Moderator)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
I noticed that neither of you posted in any of the welcome forums, but allow me to welcome you to Ascent! and the extranet, KretekStain - and welcome to the Citadel, Ascalon! I hope both of you find the extranet - and life on the Citadel - to be great.

Anyways, TuchankaTough, what Army Chows do you have left? I've got a few and wouldn't mind trading, if you've got any duplicates.

 **►VolusMolus**  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Just a heads-up for anyone interested, the line out the Lawsons is fucking HUGE. Like, estimated right now to be 4 hours. You want in, you'd better go, and fast...

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 **Topic: Film Club: Titanfall Series - TF2: Typhon (Spoilers)  
In: Boards ► Media Discussion ► Systems Alliance ► Films  
Twochanka ** (Original Poster) (Ascent!)  
Posted On Jan 12th 2158:  
Hi everyone! Last week's communal viewing of Titanfall: Demeter was a a huge success; for those not in the know, fellow Alliance-nerd and part-time film critic Shotgun Cookery booked one of the theatres at the Golden Saaja and we watched the first in the much-beloved and historically important Titanfall film series. We're planning on getting together again to watch the second movie this Saturday - for more information, check out the Titanfall Film Series subcluster.

But it doesn't hurt to watch the movie before you go, too! (Last week it got kind of rowdy, hehe.) Go watch the movie - it's about 3 hours - and then come back to discuss it! As usual this thread will contain spoilers, though if you've read up on the Alliance's history around 25FP you'll already be spoiled as to how the movie goes. Next, my thoughts:

Wow. Like, the first Titanfall movie was kind of crazy, and it was a blast to see what are by Alliance accounts mostly historically-accurate recreations of major battles in their history (save for the obvious embellishments like time travel and stuff), but this one was a whole new thing. Getting to watch BT and Jack bond over the course of the movie was genuinely touching and it really makes you appreciate how far the Alliance's binaries have come.

The action was even crazier, and that section where Jack has to fly through the IMC base while time travelling blew my fucking mind. Ditto with the mid-air chase scene - apparently that was almost all practical effects. Damn near pissed myself at the sight of some of those jumps.

Plus, the movie's so quotable, and the characters - who were real people, it's easy to forget - are memorable as hell. Jack's got that everyman thing going, classic rise-to-badassery story, and BT's just the coolest. (I've ordered a replica kit of him!)

I would like to complain that the villains weren't really fleshed out all that well; we don't get to know General Marder beyond the fact that he's kind of a dick (which is historically accurate according to Nexuspedia, but still), and Blisk's crazy band of mercs are all one-note cut-outs. Which is a shame, because even though they were all terrible people in real life reading up on Blisk and his exploits is kind of nuts.

Anyways I'm interested to see where the next one goes; the first movie kind of had to end its arc since MacAllan dies, but with both protagonists surviving and unf, that sequel hook with Blisk giving his card to Jack - I'm excited to see what comes next!

 **(Showing page 1 of 277)**

 **►JunkieHearts999** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
This is literally state-funded propaganda and you guys are taking the bait so easily it's sad. Also, I think we all know your...thing for robots makes you biased.

 **►Twochanka** (Original Poster) (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Man, I'm just trying to enjoy a movie. Do you not have anything better to do?

 **►KretekStain** (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Don't feed the trolls, Twochanka - it's the same everywhere.

Anyways I gotta say after binge-watching all the pre-Fold War movies (up to Titanfall 7) this is probably the best one. You get to focus on Jack and BT and really get to know them; it's a much more intimate film than most of the others.

Also, I'm kind of sad that Kuben Blisk's accent isn't really a thing anymore. Guy's like, the apex (ayyy) of the mercenary character - such a suave move at the end. "Ay, you earned this, eh?" AAAHHHH

 **►Palaven Rising** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
I don't get it. Why did Blisk just, you know, leave at the end? Why would you give your business card to someone who is literally trying to kill you? Wasn't he working for Marder?

 **►VolusMolus** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Guy was a mercenary, to the core, man. Look it up on Nexuspedia - that dude respected two things: being tough and money.

 **►Mr. Chompers** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Can someone explain the whole time-anomaly thing to me? I was totally sober for the entire film and I feel like that whole section with the...time...stuff went totally over my head. So there's this Ark thing that's kind of like a prototype engine of some sort, and it blows up because the IMC were pushing it too hard, because Jack went back in time and set off the alarms, leading to the facility getting blown up, which is how Jack found the time travel watch, which Jack used to go back in time but then he set off the alarms...

My head hurts. Maybe this makes more sense drunk.

 **►Ascalon** (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
I can confirm that it doesn't. If you buy the Anniversary Collection of the entire film series there's this featurette where a bunch of scientists talk about all the theoretical stuff about how time travel, you know, doesn't work in reality?

Anyways them explaining what rules of reality we'd have to break to make the stuff in the movie work gave me a headache. Best to just accept that they put it in the movie because it's cool and leave it at that.

 **►NoFishInTheLake**  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
Do they sell replica kits of the Titans in the movie besides BT? I really like that crazy flying one, the Viper guy.

 **►KretekStain** (Firelink)  
Replied On Jan 12th 2158:  
They do, but amongst the kit community it's widely agreed that most screen-accurate ones are part of the Titans Ascendant line - they're expensive. Very expensive. You could also try and collect the original print models from 134 FP but those are damn near impossible to find these days.

 **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 275, 276, 277**


	27. 6-2: CODEX II

PILOT CADRES

After the Fold Wars, the newly-formed Systems Alliance realized that the loose brigade structure of the Frontier Militia would no longer be an option if they were to maintain a cohesive fighting force; despite several pushes towards organizing and restructuring its fighting brigades, no serious attempt to rebuild the chaotic mess of resources available to the Militia had succeeded until then. In 118FP, three years after the conclusion of the Fold Wars, the SAAF launched the "Militia-Alliance Transition Timeline," which proposed a rapid reorganization of its fighting forces to remain prepared for any major threats.

Thus, the Militia / SAAF's brigades were reassigned and re-tasked into branches that, if not laid out in exactly the same manner as today's are, were very similar in function. One exception remained; the argument was made by many of the smaller, specialized, Pilot-focused brigades that such organization would only hinder their ability to remain at peak readiness and disrupt their flexibility. SAAF High Command agreed, and the MATT included a provision which would see Pilot-focused brigades transition into Cadres - small, elite groups of Pilots and Titans able to continue the brigade tradition of going where they pleased and acting as they saw fit. Some restrictions were put in place on these new cadres; missions tasked by High Command would have to be carried out, and during wartime tactical command would return to the SAAF.

Pilot School, a formal training centre for future Pilots and Titans, was formed in 72FP to standardize candidate selection and the training process - all of which was previously left up to brigade commanders or individual Pilots. After the MATT, Pilot School was made into a quasi-cadre of its own, and often serves as the middleman for cadres requiring requisitions, supplies, new orders, etc. Its location is a closely-guarded secret and most Pilots are not privy to that information. In modern times, experts estimate that there are over a hundred cadres, but Pilot School and the SAAF have declined to give hard numbers. In the same vein, Pilot School has made part of the cadre roster available to the public; officials from PS say that cadres who wish to be in the public eye can choose to be put in the public roster.

Many cadres have a long and storied history, and when speaking of cadres there is often a delineation made between cadres which can trace their origins back to brigades, and those founded after the retirement of the brigade system. The following brigades in particular are known as the "Frontier Four;" these cadres can trace their history back to before the formation of Pilot School and in some cases right up to the opening days of the Liberty War against the IMC.

The Frontier Four are:

 **The Marauder Corps  
**  
 _"We've been protecting the Frontier for decades. If the IMC thinks it can stop us now? Let them try. Marauders, weapons hot!"_

 _\- Pilot Sarah Briggs, prior to Operation Scourge.  
_  
Insignia: The Militia Skull

Traditional Colours: Militia Green, Coyote Brown

The original Pilot-led brigade / cadre. Formed before the adoption of the Freeport Calendar, the brigade was founded and led by Pilot Sarah Briggs; in her honour, the cadre today is often referred to as "Brigg's Marauders" or its shortened callsign, M-COR. They are the largest cadre today and, barring the cadres composed of Pilots and Titans attached to other branches, by far the most formal and structured.

 **The Rifle Brigade**  
 _  
"Protocol One: Link to partner! Protocol Two: Uphold the mission! Protocol Three: Protect my partner! Riflemen, guns up!"_

 _-Titan BT, reciting the Rifle Brigade's Three Protocols._

Insignia: Half of a classic "X-Pattern" Pilot Helmet and half of a Vanguard Mk.1 Titan Head, split down the middle.

Traditional Colours: Black, Maroon

Led by rifleman-turned-Pilot Jack Cooper and famous AI war hero BT, Cooper and BT overcame incredible odds and became renown for pulling off pivotal victories without any support; owing to its founder's roots as a low-ranking grunt, the Rifle Brigade has a reputation for being friendly and the most happy to work with SAAF regulars. Often referred to as "Cooper's Riflemen" or "BT's Warmachines" in honour of its founders.

 **The 6-4**  
 _  
"The 6-4 is a family!"_

 _\- Pilot Hannah Gates, on many occasions_

Insignia: Classic "X-Pattern" Pilot Helmet, flanked by two Smart Pistols

Traditional Colours: Black, Navy Blue

A quasi-mercenary group founded during the early years of Liberation War, the 6-4 were well known for only accepting contracts that they believed would help liberate the Militia and the Frontier. They accepted the offer to become a cadre after the Fold Wars and have a reputation for being warmly professional and maintaining a proud, mercenary spirit. Well-known for their insistence that they're not a cadre, but rather, a "family;" members of the public have noted that the 6-4 do indeed act like one when off-duty.

 **The Angel Aces**  
 _  
"Today we fight hard, and tonight we party harder! Last one off the dropship buys the first round. Aces, let's kick ass!"_

 _\- Pilot Robert "Barker" Taube, before the Battle of Xin Shanghai, 112 FP_

Insignia: SAAF skull, clenching a bottle of whiskey between its teeth

Traditional Colours: None; Officially Milita Green / Coyote Brown, the default choice on the form Pilot Taube had to fill out

Founded by Alliance folk hero and legendary warrior Robert Taube, known more commonly by his nickname, Barker; the Angel Aces have a reputation for being closer to a group of friends who happen to fight together rather than any sort of formally trained warriors. Barker's cadre was legendary by the time the Alliance was formed for being particularly skilled at destroying enemy emplacements, causing incredible havoc behind enemy lines and a deep, cadre-wide fondness for heavy explosives.


	28. 6-3: BEYOND THE BOUNDS

**CHAPTER THREE: "BEYOND THE BOUNDS"  
January 17th**

The combined Alliance-Citadel Fleet convoy had left Kena slightly later than expected; according to Jane, the Cerberus attack had thrown the original schedule into total disarray, and several ships worth of military personnel and civilians who were intending to either set up shop on Kena or accompany the fleet to the Citadel had to be accounted for. Still, Nihlus figured, an extra few days to shore up OPSEC and keep an eye out for any Cerberus threats in the area wasn't going to hurt, and he had spent the extra three days hanging out with the _Demeter_ 's crew (who were, as far as he could tell, almost entirely composed of troops Castis had met aboard the _Solar_ ) and making sure his crew were both doing well and staying out of trouble. Jane's combat team had also gotten new transfers; Nihlus hadn't had the chance to speak to them beyond simple greetings since they were all apparently training in the _Demeter_ 's hangar or sim pods, neither of which he figured he should be observing without permission.

Once they'd left, the journey was an easy one, and Nihlus sighed in content as Valtha brought the _Lightspear_ down into their docking bay. "Good to be home," he said, as the _Lightspear_ 's gears lowered and the bay's clamps engaged.

"Yeah, nothing like getting ready to have a bunch of robots drill your skull open and-"

"-Itok, stop," Valtha said, glaring at the salarian who had just popped into the cockpit.

"Sorry," Itok said, frowning. "I wasn't trying to make fun of your situation. Just...you know. Wanted to lighten the mood."

"I'm not that worried," Nilhlus replied, shrugging. "Once they've got all the scans and stuff, the binaries are gonna spend days poring over the sims, making sure I won't get turned into some half-dead robot or something."

"Okay, well, you're a very optimistic person."

"Unusual for you to so negative," Larix said, limping up to the cockpit.

"Dunno. This whole prothean, precursor, ancient evil civilizations stuff gives me bad vibes. Don't like it."

"That's fair, I suppose," Nihlus said, his expression one of distaste. "You'd think if you were a super-advanced bunch of folk you'd try and make your answering machines not, I dunno, kill the people listening to it."

"Bunch of assholes. Explains why they're not around anymore," Itok said, his tone only slightly cheerier. "Friends probably got tired of dealing with'em."

"That's more like it. Valtha, we'll be down in the hangar when you're done."

"Sounds good. Shouldn't take more than a minute or two."

Nihlus, Itok and Larix took the elevator down to the Hangar to find Ultina and Raetor both sitting on the couch; Raetor got up as he noticed the others. "So? What's the plan for today?"

"I need to get a brain scan - already booked one at Chalua Hospital, then deliver that to one of the big Alliance ships. After that they're running some tests and then I'm all done. I was gonna go visit Viiste and see if I can't go buy some new guns or something. You guys wanna tag along?"

"No can do," Valtha said, coming out of the elevator. "I have to make sure Quarian vas Dumbass here doesn't try to bolt those extra guns we have laying around onto the ship."

"Yeah, speaking of that," Larix asked, "did you ever figure out what you wanna do with those?"

"I'm feeling very attacked right now," Raetor said, shaking his head. "I stripped down two of'em to keep for parts, just in case, and I'm selling the rest."

"How much are you losing on this?" asked Nihlus. "I know that technically it's your money, but, you know."

"I'm actually making money! I managed to find a buyer - bunch of guys I've sold to before, actually."

"Okay. You'll forgive me for being surprised," Nihlus replied, grinning. "How much?"

Raetor cringed slightly. "Uh...two credits."

Itok burst out laughing from behind Nihlus, and Raetor crossed his fingers at him. "Blow it out your ass, Itok."

"Well, at least we're not losing money. So long as everything worked out in the end, right?" Nihlus shrugged, and patted Raetor on the back.

"Such low standards," Itok said, pulling a futon out of one of the supply crates and flopping onto it. "Masterful magnanimous merchant Itok Kazus brings in the big haul - and a kickass couch, which everyone seems to approve of - and I didn't even get a prize for it."

"Your prize," Larix said, shuffling over to the couch and easing himself into it, "is me not throwing you out the airlock for running your mouth."

"I'm feeling very attacked right now," Itok replied, as he booted up a game on his omnitool. "So, you stopping by back here before heading out to buy some new guns?"

"Yeah. The ship I gotta stop at, the _Gravitas_ is parked in its own hangar - think it's two down from us."

"Shit, that's the giant one, right?" Raetor whistled. "Didn't think it'd need an entire hangar to itself."

"I mean, that one's almost as big as the _Frontier,"_ Valtha replied. "Damn thing looks like a brick - wonder how it handles."

"Spirits. Does it ever weird you out that, you know, we did the whole contact thing, like, less than a year ago?" Nihlus asked to nobody in particular.

"I dunno," Itok replied, not looking up from his game. "It's kind of crazy, sure, but in the grand scheme of things it's probably not that weird."

"First contact's not a minor thing, man," Larix said.

"Okay, whatever. You people keep arguing over this, I'm leaving." Nihlus lowered the ship's hatch, only to stop as he saw two C-Sec officers - a batarian and an asari - waiting at the bottom of the ramp. "Uh, hi there, officers, can I help you?"

"Spectre Kryik?" the batarian asked, stepping forward. "I'm Kophim, and this is my partner, Isena. We're here to speak with one of your crew members, a Mr. Kazus?"

"Oh, spirits," Nihlus grumbled. "Is he in trouble?"

"Not yet," Isena replied, "but we came here to, ah, provide some legal counseling. Compliments of Captain Vakarian."

"Castis sent you?"

"Yup," Kophim said, shaking his head. "You mind if we head on in and talk to him?"

"Of course not. Should I be there for this?"

"Wouldn't hurt," the batarian replied.

The three walked back into the hangar to find Itok, Larix and Ultina watching an Alliance show of some sort, using a supply crate as a makeshift table. They noticed Nihlus returning with the two officers in tow, and Ultina got up. "Nihlus! Officers, everything alright?"

"We have to speak with Itok," Kophim said as Itok's head snapped up.

"I didn't do anything illegal," Itok said coolly. "I've even got the paperwork."

Isena sighed. "Look, we're here - on our off-duty time, I might add - because Castis wanted to tell you that a bunch of the stuff you've been importing is about to become illegal to bring without a license."

"Like what? Cheetos never hurt anyone," he said stuffing a handful of the strange orange sticks into his mouth.

"Nobody's mad that you've been importing cheese snacks. The booze? That's a little less okay," Kophim said, "but you had to have known this was gonna happen."

"Shit. Any word on when this is happening?"

"Act passed in the Lower Council last night, so it probably won't be officially enforced until the beginning of next month," Kophim replied. "Covers narcotics, alcohol and stuff like that."

Isena pulled an OSD from her armour and tossed it it Itok. "Read it and don't say that C-Sec doesn't help, alright?"

Itok scanned the disk and began to read.

 _Dear Itok Kazus,_

It has recently come to my attention that a certain salarian entrepreneur has been taking it upon himself to import goods from the Systems Alliance with the purpose of reselling said items at a higher price. This is, of course, legal, but recently passed acts will soon be filling loopholes that you may or may not have been using to get controlled substances like alcoholic beverages and Alliance-legal stimulants past customs without any issue.

Purely out of respect for Nihlus, I figured I ought to give you a warning; I imagine working for a Spectre leaves little time for reading the news. I assumed that Nihlus would be annoyed if he had to bail you out of jail because you didn't know importing alcohol was illegal.

Tell Nihlus he owes me one,

Castis Vakarian

Nihlus watched as the two officers leave the ship, read over the letter again, and scowled before walking over to the ramp controls and sealed the ship. "I don't like this," he said, turning to Itok.

"Whaddya mean? Owing him a favour?"

"I mean, it's generally not a good thing to owe cops favours," Ultina said, pausing the show they were watching. "Even if they are cool. It's just bad form."

"No, this isn't right. Something's not right. Why send his officers to tell you something he could have done via a message, or in person himself?"

"That's kind of a stretch," Itok said, shrugging. "Dude's just probably busy doing cop stuff."

"I still don't like this. Where's Raetor?"

"Went to go meet the guys he's selling the extra ship guns to," Larix replied.

"Okay. Keep that OSD, you guys - and Raetor, when he shows up - take a nice, hard look at it. Make sure it's just a message. I've gotta go get those scans done and maybe swing by Castis' office."

"You alright, boss? You're being awfully paranoid," Larix pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, but I've got that itch in my fringe. Besides, if it's nothing, I get to go say hi to a friend, and if it is something, well, I'm being proactive."

"Well, alright. Hey, let us know when you're done being a weirdo and go gun shopping," Ultina said. "We figured we could grab some new gear too."

The next two hours passed by without event; most of it was spent waiting in line at Chalua hospital for a free doctor. Scans obtained, Nihlus made his way to the hangar reserved for the _Gravitas_ , and did his best not to gawk at the massive, brick-like ship anchored at no less than twelve points in the bay. The hangar itself was full of Alliance personnel who were offloading crates, setting up small self-assembling structures and generally milling about. Unsure of who he was supposed to speak to to get aboard the ship, he simply approached the nearest group of soldiers, who were standing around a self-assembling building and chatting amongst themselves. One of them noticed Nihlus and said something to a binary who had a short length of fur attached to the back of their head. "Hey," the binary said, her faceplate flashing as she jogged up to Nihlus, "this area's off limits to civ- wait, you don't look like a civ."

"No, actually, my name's-"

"-oh, shiiiiiiieeeeeet," the binary said, managing to fit well over eight syllables into a word that his translator thought should have one, "you're that Nihlus guy! Right?"

"That's correct," Nihlus said warily as several of the nearby soldiers suddenly looked up from their work. "Would one of you be able to show me to the medbay?"

"Shit, right, figure you'd want to keep things cool if you're on your way to the doc," the binary said, making a shooing gesture with her hands at her (presumably) squadmates. "Sorry, we heard you and your squad fucked up a bunch of doggos, five on thirteen. People've been itching for combat footage and a chance to meet the crew that did it." The binary set off at not-quite-a-jog, leading Nihlus through the crowds of soldiers; Nihlus saw that many were finished setting up their prefab-buildings and were now either offloading more crates from the ship, or unpacking ration kits and eating in and ontop of the new buildings. "Name's YK, Yoko."

"Sorry, Yoko," Nihlus said, following the binary towards one of the _Gravitas'_ open ramps. "I've got a busy schedule today; otherwise I'd be more than happy to hang around and chat. What's a 'doggo'?"

"Oh, Cerberus takes their name after this old earth mythological three-headed animal called the dog."

"I've seen those online - four legs, kind of fluffy?"

"Yeah, so doggo's a pretty common word for the bastards."

"What're all the buildings out here?"

"Temporary barracks, field kitchens, bathrooms and whatnot. _Gravitas_ just got back from a long haul, and lots of the folks who were onboard before us new soldiers got transferred were cooped up in there for months. Nice to be able to get out and stretch your limbs, I think."

"Wait, you're not setting up shop here, are you?"

"Nah. We're here for, like, two days tops while we offload all this junk - most of it's civilian stuff that we got paid to ship while the brass figures out how to control regular civilian traffic in and out of Alliance space. First contact and shit and here we are playing space trucker. Yeesh." Nihlus did his best not to laugh as the pair boarded the ship proper and stopped at a small guard post set up just past the ramp. "Dorian," Yoko said to the guard, "I'm escorting Nihlus here to the medbay."

"Oh, shit, Nihlus? Nihlus Kryik, guy who-"

"-yes, took down a bunch of Cerberus Pilots. With my squad," Nihlus said, shaking his head. "Am I going to be able to live this one down?"

"Fuck no," the human guard replied. "Besides, you oughtta milk this shit for as long as possible. If it was me people were buying drinks for no way I'd say no. Anyways, Yoko, tacnet says primary medbay's been closed off, some dumbass caused a spill or something. Secondary - you know how to get there."

"Thanks, Dorian," Yoko replied. The interior of the ship was as spartan as any of the Turian Army's, and despite there being no small number of soldiers outside the hallways were actually quite full of personnel moving boxes, and otherwise looking occupied; after a quick elevator ride, Yoko pointed down a corrdior towards a set of double doors marked with the Alliance medical symbol. "Right in there - I'm sure they'll have someone escort you out."

"Thanks, Yoko," Nihlus said. "Been a pleasure."

"Oh, please, it was nothing," the binary replied cheerfully. "And hey, if you do have that combat footage, pass it out to us grunts! We'll make good use of it!" She disappeared down another corridor, her strange fur-ponytail thing bobbing as she went.

Nihlus threw open the double-doors and found himself in what was unmistakably a medical facility, complete with curtains and white decor. It was massive compared to the one aboard the _Broadshield_ ** _,_** though all but two of the fifty odd beds were empty. Several doctors were sitting at terminals, and one turned to face Nihlus as he entered.

"Ah, Spectre Kryik." The doctor, a human male with black skin and hair that resembled strands of an asari's crest, grinned and beckoned at Nihlus. "Come on, get over here - we've got medical history to make."

Making medical history, Nihlus reflected, wasn't very exciting. He'd been told to lay down in a metallic tube with a transparent top tucked in a side room, and the tube had sealed for about five minutes while the doctors took readings and recorded data. After that, he'd been thanked for his time and escorted by one of the personnel back outside. Despite being the only turian in the hangar - there were a few salarians and asari at the far end speaking with some soldiers - he was surprised at how little attention most of the soldiers in the hangar paid to him. He stopped to speak with a few for a minute or so, and politely declined signing the weapons of several grunts. A few minute later as he neared the exit, Yoko and her squad waved at him from the top of a prefab building; he waved back, and he shrugged as several of Yoko's squadmates began, as far as he could see, high-fiving.

After a quick elevator ride out of the hangar area and an air-car ride later, he found himself in the Presidium at the C-Sec Headquarters building. He entered, and walked over to one of the secretaries - a turian woman - that he vaguely recognized. "Spectre Kryik - I need to speak with Captain Vakarian as soon as possible. Is he available?"

The officer looked at Nihlus for a moment before checking her terminal, then nodded. "One moment, please." She tapped at her omnitool a few times, waited a moment, then checked her terminal before nodding at him. "He's in his office and says that he's more than happy to make time for you. He also said you knew the way?"

"I do," Nihlus replied, "though if it'd make everyone more comfortable I'm more than happy to go with an escort or surrender my firearm."

"No need," the secretary said.

"Alright. Thanks." He made his way upstairs to the fifth floor, exited into a hallway full of offices, and walked over to Castis' office before knocking.

"Come in, Nihlus!"

Nihlus entered to find Castis scrolling through pages on his terminal with one hand and scarfing down a sorvin; Castis stuffed the last of the wrap into his mouth, did his best to stifle a belch and sighed. "Sorry, Nihlus - busy day today. Come in, have a seat - I'm glad you got my message." Nihlus sat down and was about to clasp arms with Castis when the officer suddenly made a cutting gesture, then locked the door from his terminal and scanned the room several times before sitting back down, pulling four jammers of various make from his coat and placing them on the desk.

"Spirits, Castis-"

"-listen, Nihlus, I don't know if we have a problem right now and that in and of itself is scaring the shit out of me."

"What?"

"Nihlus, we've had twenty-six people go missing in the last two months."

"People go missing all the time, Castis. It's not nice to think about, sure, but it happens."

"Uh-huh. And all of the people who went missing are salarian?"

"Targeted? Doesn't expl-"

"-and all of them were returning from the Alliance."

"Wait, what? There've only been, like, three trips open to the general public."

"Yes."

"Timeline?"

"Reported missing within a week after getting off, either by passengers, co-workers, friends or whatnot. Earliest one was within two fucking hours of landing."

"Okay, this is weird, but...not impossible?"

"We don't have hard evidence on all the cases, but several that are impossible. Cam footage of people walking into bathrooms with only one entrance, or one-way-streets. and just disappearing. We investigated a bunch of these people and while it all looks fine, something's off. I can feel it. Everyone who's disappeared is...too clean."

"How so?"

"Businessman, twenty, works for a trading company. Apartment looks normal. All the booze is half-finished, but the lids and caps are dusty. He's got two terminals, but one's eight years older than the other and totally empty. No crimes, worked the same job since he arrived on the Citadel. Nothing's wrong, but at the same time something is. Or another one - omnitool repair shop owner, twenty-eight, works from home. Apartment's clean, 'cept there's no sign of wear on ninety percent of the tools in the apartment. None. No scratches, no heat marks, no fingerprints. One box was still sealed. Another one: private tutor, fourteen. Lives in the Presidium, terminal wiped itself when we tried to do a check. Handgun under her pillow, shotgun in the bathroom, shotgun under the sink. All legally purchased. This keeps going on and on."

Nihlus simply looked at Castis, then sighed. "Oh, spirits."

"Yeah."

"STG?"

"Anything this weird? Guarantee they're involved somehow."

Nihlus simply stared into space for a moment before shaking his head. "Fuck."

"Exactly how I'd put it." Castis scratched at his fringe and groaned. "Listen, Nihlus, I have no idea what to do about this. Investigations either run into impossible situations - like the bathrooms - or we get the same info. 'Don't know the guy, kept to himself, real friendly but didn't know lots about him.' That leaves two options: one, STG, two, I have no idea. I don't like spies and I sure as shit don't like being in the dark about things."

Nihlus exhaled. "I want to help, Castis, but I can't see how."

"Not asking for your help - but if you do see anything that explains this mess, pass it up if you can?"

"Will do."

"Also a warning. Something's going on and I'd hate for anything to happen to you or your crew. Stay safe, alright? And here," Castis said, passing Nihlus an OSD from his coat. "All the info we have right now. Set to auto-wipe after an hour, so make backups if you need it."

"You too, Castis."

Castis turned the jammers off and placed them back in his coat before unlocking the door. "Anyways," he said in a cheery tone, "I know you're busy and I am too - we should catch up some time, alright?"

"Yeah - I'll let you know when I have some time off," Nihlus replied happily. "See you around!"

Nihlus left the C-Sec headquarters and made a beeline for the private hangar where the _Lightspear_ was parked; the ramp was up, and he entered the ship through the side access hatch. Nobody was on the main deck, so he descended to the hangar to find Itok, Raetor and Valtha disassembling a ship-mounted gun while Larix and Ultina napped - on the couch and a futon, respectively. Itok looked up and waved when he saw Nihlus.

"Oi! Boss! We going gun shopping?"

Nihlus groaned. "Everyone get cleaned up and meet on the CIC - I've got some real fun news you're all gonna love."

"...and that's the last of the victims." Nihlus sank into a chair next to the holoboard a while later and rubbed at his eyes. "Spirits, I thought this would be weird, but not THAT weird."

"You asshole, I didn't love this at all," Larix grumbled. "What the fuck are we supposed to do about this?"

"I mean, Castis did say that we should just keep an eye out," Ultina ventured, "and besides, it's probably the best we can do. Unless you lot wanna play detective."

"Hell no," Itok said, shaking his head. "This shit stinks of-"

"-don't you fucking say it," Raetor interjected.

"Look, we're all thinking it. This reeks of time fuckery to me," Itok said, kicking the wall he was standing next to.

"Don't kick my ship," Valtha said.

"Sorry. But seriously." Itok made a digusted face and closed his eyes. "Doesn't it make sense? I mean, as much sense as time travel can."

"You got any proof?" Nihlus asked.

"No, but it's a terrifyingly convenient explanation."

"Okay, but we can't start applying explanations just because they're convenient," Raetor noted. "Otherwise we fall into the trap of, like, everything being due to time travel."

"Who says it isn't?"

"Oh, fuck, we are _not_ going there," Valtha said. "Please."

"I mean, I'm not trying to be an ass about it," Itok said, raising his hands. "I'm being dead serious."

"That's...I don't like that," Nihlus said after a moment.

"What, me being serious? Or the...time...stuff?"

"Both." Nihlus swore under his breath several times, then got up. "Well, alright. I don't think any of us are qualified to really play weird-shit-detective, and even if we were I don't think there's much we could do. Just keep an eye out for anything weird."

"You know," Larix said, "I'm honestly kind of wishing you hadn't told us any of this."

"Better to be alert, I'd say," Ultina replied. "No point in hiding from this stuff."

"Okay, so can we go gun shopping now?" asked Itok. "I'd like to buy guns and try to stop my imagination from drowning me in existential dread."

"You know what? That sounds like a fantastic idea," Nihlus said, sighing. He tapped his omnitool, linking it to the main holoboard's speakers, and waited until his omni lit up.

"Edote and Keli, Bespoke Gunsmithing. This is Viiste, how may I help you?"

"Hey Viiste-"

"Oh, goddess, is that you, Nihlus? You never visit!" There was a thumping sound of some sort followed by Viiste pounding on something. "Hey! Ishera! It's Nihlus!"

"Nihlus? Really? Is that you?" asked the other asari, her voice slightly muffled. "Hey! Where've you been? You never come here anymore!"

"Spirits, you two, it's been, like, two months, tops."

"Yeah," Viiste replied, "and you spend more than most customers do in a year. You and your crew need some more firepower?"

"Yup. You guys free for a consultation?"

"We're booked until 4PM, but we'll close the shop down for you guys after that. Any of your guns need servicing or you want them checked up, you can drop them off now. Sound good?"

"Perfect. See you in two hours." Nihlus terminated the call, and sank into the chair next to the holoboard. "So, two hours to kill - what do you guys wanna do? Anyone hungry?"

"All that talk about time travel and stuff kind of killed my appetite," Larix said sadly.

"Can we not talk about that? Come on, let's just go get something to eat," Valtha replied. "Staying on the ship isn't gonna do you any good."

The group grabbed their firearms and tech tools, and left the _Lightspear_ , each carrying a double-sized rifle case. They made their way over to the private hangar's garage module, loaded their equipment in the back of Nihlus' trusty old Economy Ten, and piled into the car. Nihlus drove the vehicle towards the Zakera Ward, relaxing as best he could with his crew fighting over the music selection, temperature controls and loudly arguing about which snack food was the best to consume while drinking. Doing his best to tune them out, Nihlus parked the car in a private lot reserved for customers of the block of stores E&K was attached to, and got out of the car. After retreving ther cases from the trunk, it was a quick walk to the store; inside, Viiste and Ishera were each speaking to customers. Neither said anything to Nihlus or his group, but Viiste nodded at Wrex, who was, as usual, standing in front of the entrance to the staff-only area.

"Kryik." Wrex looked at Nihlus and his group.

"Wrex."

"Mmm. Just slide the cases behind the counter."

"You got it." The group did as they were told, and waved at Ishera and Viiste; Wrex simply smirked and made a grunting noise.

"So," Nihlus said as the group reconvened outside the store, "where to now? We've still got over an hour. Lunch, then we piss around until it's time?"

"Fine by me. We're close to the Lawson's, right? Wouldn't mind stopping there for food," Valtha said.

"Do they have dextro stuff?"

"Yeah, I think so," Itok replied. "The company they partnered with owns a bunch of smaller restaurant chains - their food court should have some familiar stuff."

"Alright, fair enough. What about the lines, though? I've heard they're pretty bad. I know it's been a few days since they opened, but still," Nihlus said.

"Well, we can go take a look," Larix offered. "Lawson's is, what, corner of Ajax and Z-3? Tons of stuff around there."

The group took an air-shuttle down to Ajax Crossing, disembarked, and simply stood outside the station's doors. The Lawson's was smack-dab on the corner of the two major streets that branched off from where they were standing; as far as the eye could see were long, snaking lines of people waiting to get into the store. Several staff comprised of people of all races from both the Citadel and Alliance were standing around the lines, directing movements and stopping people from trying to run into the store; there were two distinct lines, Nihlus noted, with a sign hanging over each displaying an estimated time. The entrance for the store itself had an estimated time of 3 hours, while the food-court-only line was at 2.5 hours.

"So. We're not going to Lawson's," Itok said, shaking his head. "Fucking hell, you'd think people would, I dunno, be at work or something. They don't even close - why show up at, like, 3 in the afternoon?"

"Maybe because some people don't want to line up for lunch at midnight?" Larix replied. "Come on, why don't we just go to Sancti and grab something to eat."

"We always go to Sancti when we're in the neighbourhood," Raetor grumbled. "Why don't we ever try something new?"

"Dude, we're almost never 'in the neighbourhood,' not to mention that they're the only place around here that is clean, good, clean, fast AND isn't overpriced as shit," Itok replied.

"We're not exactly hurting for money," Ultina pointed out.

"Sure, but it's the principle of the matter," Raetor said.

"Whatever - we'll go to Sancti, I'll buy you something later if that means you'll stop complaining," Itok said.

"Score. Anything's good if you're not paying for it," Raetor said cheerfully.

Their lunch was, if not exemplarary, more than acceptable, and Nihlus patted his stomach after finishing his meal. He drained his fourth cup of tuppossa and checked his omnitool and swore as he saw that it was 3:55. "Guys, we're gonna be late," he said, scowling. "Come on, finish your food and let's go."

Itok, Raetor and Ultina had all finished their meals; Larix was still slowly chewing through a sorvin wrap and Valtha's soup was almost finished. Valtha lifted the bowl up and drank the last of her lunch, but Larix simply looked at his wrap and sighed. "Alright, I'll get it to go."

Nihlus settled the bill at the counter and left a generous tip before the group sprinted back out to the transit station and returned to E they arrived exactly at 4:01.

"Ah! Right on time," Viiste said, waving to the group from behind the counter.

"One minute late," Wrex rumbled. "By my count."

"Whatever, Wrex," Itok said, walking up to the counter with the otherse. "Miss Edote, Miss Keli, a pleasure as always," he said in an exaggerated drawl, bowing slightly.

"Such a gentleman as usual," Viiste replied, feigning a swoon. "You scoundrel. Alright, who's up first? Or are we doing a group consultation first?"

"Group," Nihlus said, nodding at Wrex; the krogan lumbered over to the door controls and shut the store's gates before locking the manual latches attached to the floor. "Okay, so we fought a bunch of Cerberus Pilots - got to field test those custom upgrades you did for us."

"Well, you're all standing here," Ishera noted, "and as far as I can tell none of you are missing any body parts. Did they work as you wanted?"

"Better, actually," Larix replied. "Our issues were caused by tactics, not by our gear - but we were hoping you guys help us engineer some improvements now that we've tested them all in combat. Itok, Raetor, you guys wanna go first, cover the tech stuff?"

"Yeah, sure," Raetor said. He waited as Viiste pulled their two weapon cases off the ground and placed them on top of the counter; she let Raetor and Itok unlock both of them, and both asari women made tutting noises as they examined the firearms and fabricators within.

"You two," Viiste said disapprovingly, as she lifted Itok's handgun out. "Devlon Venomstrike, SUAF variant, 2120 model? I thought you were crazy, carrying your old service pistol, and now you've gone and picked up an older model?"

"Had to," Itok replied. "My old service pistol wasn't big enough, not enough room in the receiver for the mods I wanted. Same goes for the shotgun."

"Goddess," Viiste said, as she set the handgun down and picked up the shotgun; she aimed it away from the group, deployed the weapon into its firing mode and raised an eyebrow as the weapon didn't extend a barrel or a stock. "Custom job?"

"Elanus Thundershock for the base, cut the barrel down and beefed up the accelerator with one from an Elanus Typhoon. Had to skeleton the rest of the gun as much as I could to make up for the added weight, then add a counterbalance in the grip to make sure everything balanced out right."

"Well, all I recall you asking for on the last set was more firepower and a faster firing rate - stuff you could probably do in your sleep," Ishera noted. "Anything you'd like this time?"

"I was going to try and lighten the accelerator setup, but with the Typhoon out of production and the company not releasing fab files for that line of guns anymore I didn't want to risk it out in the field. If you could figure that out for me, that'd be great - our fab kits on the _Lightspear_ are good but they're not as precision-oriented as yours."

"And the handgun?" asked Viiste, setting the shotgun back in the case.

"It's basically my long-arm - could you do a multi-stage barrel setup linked to the FCU and ROF-range settings? The low rate of fire was fine for long-range stuff but I need to be able to dump rounds quickly as a backup."

"Of course. Your omnitool?"

Itok shrugged. "No need - built it from scratch myself last month. Thing's a mess internally but I'm the only one who knows how it works."

Raetor nodded. "Yeah, seriously. I tried looking at the internals for inspiration once - huge mistake. Took me half an hour to get it back together."

"Well, easiest one first," Ishera said, scribbling a few notes on a dataslate before shutting Itok's case and placing it underneath the counter. "Raetor?"

"Okay, my gear's more or less the same - home-made pistol using the Elanus Storm receiever, and a cut-down Flotilla R&D Vengeance as a sort of PDW. I thought I could get away with not having a dedicated long-range weapon; if you could put that same multi-stage barrel you put in Itok's handgun into my Vengeance that'd be fantastic."

"Easy job, won't take too long." The two asari chatted amongst themselves for a moment, then moved Raetor's case under the counter. "Alright, next up, Valtha." The asari pilot's case contained two shotguns and two pistols; Valtha simply shrugged.

"I haven't really needed to upgrade these, but if you could give them the usual once-over, maybe upgrade them with whatever parts are new on the market, that'd be great."

"You keep this up and we'll be finished with this work in less than a day," Viiste said.

"Well, don't get your hopes up," Larix said. Wrex helped place Larix and Ultina's cases up top; they both contained a rifle and handgun each.

"Alright," Ultina said, "that twenty-burst you build? Perfect. Works fantastic - we killed those Pilots easily with it. If you could boost the sink so we could do more of those with less cooldown, that'd be perfect."

"Hmm. I don't know how much more we can do," Viiste said, picking up Larix's rifle. "Phaeston 2040, Special Forces issue, right? Here, look." Ishera unrolled a small workmat on the counter and placed the rifle on the mat. "Okay, so you've got vent-lines running across the entire top of the gun, essentially, right?" She tapped her omnitool and popped the shell of the gun open, revealing its internals; she ran her finger across a long, metallic tube wrapped near and around the barrel assembly. "This entire section is a cooling sink; all the internals and engines are on the bottom. Even with all the modifications we've made, this thing's out of room - unless we start merging new sections of receiver shell onto it, we'd have to remove something to add more space for sinks."

"Shit," Larix said, shaking his head. "Damn thing's heavy enough as is - I'd really rather not, you know, add more bulk. Gotta stay light and on-the-move if we're gonna fight Pilots again - hell, even with all our lightened gear I still got shot."

"What about ejectable heatsinks?" Wrex said suddenly, from the corner of the room.

"Wait, what about them? They're a stupid idea," Ishera said, distaste obvious. "You switch it up to an eject system, you have to sacrifice regular cooling. Come on, Wrexie, you know that."

"Don't sass me, ma'am. I'm saying, like, a hybrid system. Wouldn't that work?" Wrex shrugged. "Just an idea."

"I mean, sure, but then we'd have to gut the entire upper receiver and rebuild from scratch, then revamp the entire engine system so make up for the weaker base cooling. But you guys specifically wanted something that had a lot of punch _and_ a high sustained fire-rate, so that breaks that rule." Ishera frowned and looked thoughtful.

"Could you build a system that, I dunno, combined Alliance-style magazines with our tech?" Raetor asked, his tone curious. "Like, the gun's normal, except you could have a slot where we could jam in a spare heatsink; the gun would work normally, but if you wanted to let off a twenty-salvo and then cool the gun real fast you could eject that spare sink and put in a new one?"

"Nobody makes quick-eject heatsinks that have parity with fixed ones," Viiste said, tapping a finger on the table in thought. "We could fabricate them, but each one would have to be custom made - not to mention that we'd be here for ages trying to work out how to do it, plus time for sourcing parts, designing it and stress-testing 'em too."

"Would it even be worth it? Keeping track of sink-reloads would be a whole other thing to keep track of during firefights," Nihlus said. "And while we're not strapped for cash I don't want to know how much, like, a bulk crate of custom-fab sinks on the cutting edge of weapons development would cost from you guys, let alone anyone else. Not to mention, what happens if you eject the last sink? Then, what, you're stuck with a gun that doesn't cool properly?"

The room remained silent for a moment before Viiste simply shrugged. "I mean, it's worth looking into. Ishera and I will see if we can't come up with some sort of prototype on our own end, but it won't be happening for a while. Give us some time - we can check with our contacts to see if anyone else has any ideas, too. What about your handguns? I thought I told you two to upgrade from these," she said, dangling both pistols from her hands with disgust.

"Excuse me, I'm very happy with my old service pistol, thank you very much," Ultina said in mock anger.

"Okay, but that doesn't mean it's not rubbish," Ishera replied. "Nobody in their right mind would keep an Armax Arsenal Brawler-50. Nobody."

"Then why are they standard-issue for Turian SF? Eh?"

"Larix, just because something's standard, doesn't mean it's good. Lowest bidder, right?"

"You'd make a lot of SF folks mad with that sorta talk," Ultina said, crossing her arms.

"Look, Armax is great with everything else. No clue how to design a handgun." Viiste tapped her omnitool and the wall behind her slid open to reveal a wall of handguns; she selected several, and placed them on the counter. "Look - plenty of designs, all more ergonomic and boasting better shot-to-cooling numbers than your Brawler-50s." She picked up a pair of blue-purple pistols, sleek and curvy with a rounded grip. "Serrice Stellaris, asari Commando-exclusive issue. Adjustable impact type - good fit for your guys' conc-heavy style - and plenty of cooling fins and vents. Sink runs through the entire gun, so while it runs hot you'll get way more shots on target before having to cool." The two turians took them and mimed drawing, aiming and firing the handguns before setting them down. "Or these. Haliat Gladius, brand-new. Came out last year, limited printing," she said, handing the pair each a thin, angular pistol. "Same styling as the Brawler-50, but smaller and easier to handle."

"Ah, why don't you two head to the range in the back," Ishera offered, "so we can help Nihlus out?"

"Fine, fine, we'll get out of your way," Larix grumbled, as Viiste led the him and Ultina into the back room.

"So," Ishera said, pulling out Nihlus' case, "let's take a look." Inside was a heavily scratched and well-worn rifle; its white paint was almost entirely gone, revealing the dull metal below. Several sections were off-colour, seam lines visible where they had obviously been added on after manufacturing, and the scope mount had been hacked off and replaced with a backup sighting system. "You still using your Raptor?"

"Yup. Tried switching back to a Phaeston like Larix and Ultina, but I just couldn't get used to it. Ended up getting Itok to mod in an automatic fire mode for it on top of the salvo-mode you put into it as a test."

"Hrm. Well, regardless of comfort, you're going to run into the same problem as those two - there's no room left in this thing for a sink boost or anything."

"I'm not attached to it specifically," Nihlus noted. "Just like the ergonomics - if you could fabricate a Phaeston with a similar layout I'd take it," he said.

"I'll do you one better, Nihlus." Ishera pulled a weapons case out from behind the counter and set it down, unlocking it; the box unsealed with an audible hiss to reveal a black-red rifle that looked like a larger, slightly bulkier Raptor. "Prototype rifle, developed collaboratively by Armali, Elanus and Turian Army R&D. This is the Revenant Alpha - being tested as an all-in-one replacement for the Phaeston and the Raptor. Shares 90% parts compatibility with the Raptor, with the other 10% compatible with the Phaeston; just as easy to maintain, same weight and general ergonomics as the Raptor but with a larger reciever-"

"-meaning more room for upgrades," Nihlus finished, carefully taking the rifle and shouldering it. "This is everything I have ever wanted in a primary. How'd you get this?"

"It pays to make friends in high places - and besides, with so many prototype of these things being made and destroyed in testing, it wasn't hard to pick one up. You'll take it?"

"Of course - with the usual upgrades, please. I was also hoping to replace my handgun," he said, gesturing at the beat-up Armax Pugilist. "Thing's getting old and frankly I should have replaced it years ago."

"Nihlus. The best for last," Ishera said, opening another one of the wall-mounted displays. She pulled a wooden box out of the display and gently laid it on the counter before reverently running her fingers across it; the box was etched with a carving of a turian and a krogan clasping arms. She opened it slowly, revealing a massive - it was at least double the size of Nihlus' Pugilist - handgun with a silver-red paintjob. "This," Ishera said in a near-whisper, "is the Magnus Arms Carnifex. It hits the market next week, and you have the honour of being one of its first operators. Triple-set custom-fab cooling sinks that run through the weapon. Eezo balancers made on contract by Serrice. FCU with adjustable rate of fire. Fast-cool setting with deployable sink fins. Lethality rating that outclasses any other handgun on the market by a factor of ten. This, Nihlus, is the future of handguns."

"Spirits," Nihlus said, gingerly picking the weapon up. It took him a moment to get used to the weight and heft of the handgun; he mimed drawing and aiming the pistol a few times. "This thing is a lot lighter than I thought it'd be - not that this thing is light, by any stretch," he said.

"Take it."

"What?"

"Just take it. It's yours, Nihlus." Ishera smiled at Nihlus and patted his hand as he set the gun back in its case. "You'll make better use of it than any of our other customers."

"Yeah, and you'd better not break it," Wrex said, scowling. "I wanted to buy it."

About two hours later, the bill was settled, coming in at an estimated one-hundred sixty-two thousand credits - the bulk of which was paying for R&D on the new heatsink system and Nihlus' new Revenant.

"That," Itok said, "is a lot of fucking money. Dude, we've spent less on ship guns for the _Lightspear_."

"Can't put a price on quality?" Raetor offered.

"Well, I know it's a lot of money, but think of it as an investment on your own safety," Viiste said with a wide smile. "Oh! And before you go- we have a treat for all of you. One our second trip to the Alliance, we made some friends and developed ties with some ones we'd met previously; on the last one, we finalized some deals."

"The point is," Ishera continued, "we're both cleared to - provisionally, until further contracts and negotiations are held - import certain Alliance guns which are purely chemical based and modified to fire less-lethal ammunition. We have a whole bunch of deactivated or disassembled weapons we're working on, but we've got three guns you can shoot in the back. Come see!"

The group all returned to the firing range; Viiste disappeared into a backroom and reappeared a minute later with a case covered in locks. Ishera and Viiste both began using the biometric locks and punching in passwords on their omnitools, and a moment later the case opened to reveal three guns - two rifles, and a handgun.

"These are, in order, the Wonjae V-47 Flatline, standard-issue for frontline regulars in 20FP, the Lastimosa Armory R-301 Carbine, standard-issue for frontline regulars in 42FP, and lastly the-"

"-holy shit that's a SMART PISTOL," Itok nearly shouted. "Do you guys have tracker rounds?"

"We have exactly one magazine's worth of less-lethal tracker rounds - that's twelve rounds. That's it," Viiste said, nodding sagely. "The Lastimosa Armory Smart Pistol, Mark Two. This specific gun was carried into combat between nine to eleven FP, when it was traded in for a Mark Three; this gun was then purchased by its original user and kept as a trophy. Not sure how it ended up in the shop we bought it at. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Okay, so I know you two have incredible buisness acumen, but how'd you manage to buy this?" Raetor asked.

"With money. A lot of it. You think your guns were expensive?" Ishera noted. "This thing cost more than twenty-two thousand Citadel Credits. The single magazine's worth of bullets were purchased for a 'small' price of one thousand three hundred Citadel Credits."

"Spirits," Ultina said. "So...we don't get to shoot it, I'm guessing?"

"Of course not," Viiste said, smirking, "that gets saved for when one of you lot - or some other friend of the family - gets married or has kids or something. But we did rig it up to work in the simulator, so while it won't be as exciting as firing the other guns it'll still be a taste of the crazy designs the Alliance has."

The group spent the next hour firing the two asari's guns; Nihlus particularly liked the feel of the Flatline despite it not being designed for turians. Even more enjoyable was the simulated Smart Pistol; despite only using it for a few minutes, and its (simulated) projectiles having a lengthy lock-on and time-to-impact target even at short distances, his mind began to race at the possibilities a railgun-pattern Smart Pistol like the one Jane had used on the Citadel could offer to his and his squad's tactics. He was about to stop his crew from attempting to purchase the handgun when his omnitool went off, showing the caller as from Chalua Hospital.

"Hello, is this Nihlus Kryik?" the asari caller asked.

"It is," he replied.

"I'm calling regarding your, ah, upcoming surgery. I have a representative from the Alliance with me, and we have important information to discuss; we'd appreciate it if you could make your way here as soon as possible, though if you're not free at the moment we'd be happy to schedule something."

"I'm free - I'll be there as soon as possible. Shouldn't take more than half an hour or so." He looked up and cleared his throat. "Guys, I've gotta head back to the hospital - I'll see you people back on the ship, alright?"

"Hospital? Is everything alright?" Viiste asked, her expression concerned.

"Yeah, I'm alright - just a checkup thing I gotta do."

"Well, take care anyways, and it was nice seeing you again," Ishera said.

"We'll grab your stuff for you," Itok said, waving. "You taking the car?"

"Nah, makes it easier for you guys to stash the stuff in the car on the way back to the ship. I'll transit." Nihlus made his way out to the front of the store; Wrex was reading something on his omnitool, and grunted as he noticed Nihlus leaving. He got up and unlatched the door, then turned to Nihlus.

"Kryik."

"Wrex." Nihlus nodded at Wrex, who nodded back; it was a short walk to the nearest shuttle station, and fifteen minutes later Nihlus found himself outside Chalua Hostpial again. He entered the building, spoke to someone at the intake window and was directed into the rear of the hospital. Arriving outside the meeting room he'd been told to go to. He knocked and a human voice told him to enter - he did so, revealing a room with a conference table where several doctors, both from the Citadel and the Alliance, were seated.

"Ah, Mr. Kryik," a binary doctor said, "please have a seat wherever you'd like." Nihlus sat down, and sighed.

"Good news, I hope?"

"Actually," a turian doctor replied, "fantastic news. With the help of time-dilated binary experts, your own brain scans and our own medical knowledge, the surgery shouldn't take more than an hour or so. You'll be implanted with a modified version of the standard civilian port; for now, it'll be a one-way transfer of information."

"That way," a human doctor continued, "there'll be no way for the port to cause any damage via information flow - we can only scan and extract memories. Plus, it'll make any future upgrades - should you decide to get them - easier to install. Preperations for the procedure will take a few hours at most."

"We will need you to make sure you don't eat or drink for about six hours before the surgery," the turian doctor continued. "Do you think it'd be possible to fulfill those requirements for tomorrow?"

Nihlus sighed. "Yeah, I can do that. My schedule's totally free."

"Excellent," the binary doctor said, clapping his hands together. "If all goes well, we should be able to have you out the door tomorrow evening with a brand new port installed. Please be at Chalua Hospital tomorrow morning at 10AM; we'll aim to have you in pre-op by noon."

Nihlus simply grumbled in acknowledgement and left the room.


	29. 6-4: ANUBHAVA EX NIHILO

**CHAPTER FOUR: "ANUBHAVA EX NIHILO"  
January 18th**

"How are you feeling, Mr. Kryik?"

Nihlus groaned and slowly opened his eyes, wincing as he adjusted to the glare of the overhead lights. A dull, throbbing ache radiated from the base of his neck, and he resisted the urge to rub at it. "Spirits, that feels weird," he managed to say.

"Well, if you're not in pain, that's a good sign," the binary surgeon, Stephanie, said with a warm smile. "Come on, let's see if we can't get you sitting up. Titus?"

The turian surgeon he'd spoken to earlier nodded, and he and Stephanie lifted Nihlus up into a seated position; Nihlus groaned slightly as he flexed his limbs and sighed. "So, uh, how's it look? Is it safe to feel it?"

"Yup! Connections were working at one-hundred percent, and the port implant grafted into your skeleton and nervous system without any problems. I wouldn't go punching it or anything - it'd hurt as much as an injury anywhere else - but it's safe. Go ahead," Stephanie said, nodding.

Nihlus flinched as he reached around to touch the back of his neck and felt a strange, distinct protrusion between two of his neck-plates; it felt smooth and at once both as though it belonged and distinctly wrong somehow. "It's...odd," he said. "Just feels wrong."

"Oh, that's just because it's new," Stephanie replied. "You didn't grow up with one, but give it a few weeks and you won't even notice that it's there."

"Shall we proceed with the transfer test?" Titus asked.

"Okay. Okay, sure," Nihlus said, taking a deep breath. "What exactly does this entail?"

"So we'll ask you to focus on a specific memory, then attach a cable to your port that is linked to an external memory device; we'll then play it back to ensure the system is working properly. You don't need to worry about, say, not getting the exact memory recalled or losing focus - so long as you're making an effort to recall the specific memory and the link is working properly the EMD will take care of the rest," Stephanie said as she pulled a small cart carrying a black box with an attached holo-projector towards the bed. "If you'd like a moment-"

"-let's just get this over with," Nihlus said uncomfortably.

"Alright. Stephanie is going to attach the link cable to your port; I'd like you to focus on the consultation session we did this morning during your intake. Can you remember that?" Titus asked, his tone soothing.

"Yeah, I can."

"Wonderful. Now," Stephanie continued, "most people report a bit of discomfort during their first few hundred or so jack-ins; it's not painful, but many describe it as having cold water being poured into your head. If you feel any pain whatsoever, say so or make a sudden gesture, and I'll pull the link."

"Got it. Focus on the intake meeting, expect weird sensations. Sure."

"Alright," the binary said, pulling a cable out from the box. "Connecting you to the EMD in three, two, one-"

Nihlus shuddered as the inside of his skull tingled with the most bizzare and uncomfortable sensation he'd ever felt in his life; it was, as Stephanie had said, like someone had cut a hole in his skull and was pouring ice-cold water into it. Doing his best to ignore how unbelievably wrong the link felt, Nihlus focused on his memory of the intake meeting, and seconds later the sensation stopped as Stephanie detached the cord from his neck.

"So? How did that feel?" Stephanie smiled, and patted Nihlus on the shoulder. "You did very, very well."

"Neural link is all green, no signs of nerve overload or data bleed," Titus said as he checked his omnitool. "Perfect transfer, actually."

"And here we go," Stephanie said, nodding as she wiped the cable attached to the EMD down with a sani-cloth before tossing the cloth into a biohazard container and plugging herself into a different port on the box. The projector lit up, displaying a recording from Nihlus' point of view; it was his memory of the meeting he'd been in before the surgery, complete with blinking and eye movements. Stephanie let it run for a few moments before shutting the projector off and grinning. "Mister Kryik, you've just earned yourself a spot as the first non-Alliance person to have a working dataport."

"Great," Nihlus grumbled. "I don't feel excited for some reason."

"Oh, give it time. Once we run more tests and get the two-way data transfer system running safely and certify some programs as safe for turians you'll never understand how you lived without a port," Stephanie said, nodding vigorously.

Nihlus spent another five hours under close watch, with nurses and doctors subjecting Nihlus to multiple batteries of tests covering everything from memory recall and emotional responses to eye tracking and body reflexes. Finally, at 8:30PM, he was let out of the hospital's private section; he made his way out back into the hospital's lobby to find his crew, Jane, KN, and a few of the _Demeter_ 's Combat Team waiting for him; they mobbed him in a mass of cheers and shouts before a doctor stuck his head out from a nearby office. "Hey! You lot, take your party outside before I call the guards!"

"Sorry, sorry," Jane said, grinning. "Come on, outside!"

The group moved to the front of the hospital and regrouped in one of the waiting areas next to the parking lot's entrance; Nihlus clasped arms with everyone present - and shook hands with the Alliance servicepeople - which took several minutes, and sighed as he sank into a nearby bench.

"So? How'd it go? You get one of these?" Jane asked, turning around and lowering her collar to reveal nearly a dozen ports extending from the top of her neck down into her back.

"Yup." Nihlus craned his neck to reveal his new port, and Raetor made an 'ooh' sound.

"Shiny," Itok said. "So? You get to download all the combat stuff and be a badass?"

"Nope. Told you, it's one-way. You can only take info out my head if I'm thinking about it, and no data can go the other way."

"Well that's boring," Jane said, shrugging. "Anyways, long time no see and the like - technically I'm here to let you know that you've got two days before the brass hauls - ahem, politely asks - you and I to dump our memories for a debrief."

"Uh-huh. And unofficially?" Nihlus asked skeptically.

"Well, it's our first time on the Citadel as soldiers on shore-leave as opposed to, you know, people on diplomatic escort. So we figured, who better to show us around than Nihlus and company?"

"I was hoping to just, you know, grab a bite to eat, a non-alcoholic drink - on doctor's orders - and then crash."

"Oh, shit, that's fine too. We can always do this tomorrow or something," KN replied.

"I mean, I'm not opposed so long as we don't get too rowdy," Nihlus offered. "Come on - we can go get food, you guys can drink while I enjoy a doctor-approved beverage, and then I'll leave a bit early to go rest up. We can party after our debrief. Sound good?"

"Where do you wanna take'em for food?" Larix asked.

"I was thinking Ahsha's - pretty similar to that barbecue stuff we had on Harmony," Itok said. "Food for all of us - aaaaaand it's right next door to the best damn bar on the Citadel."

"Shit, you're not thinking of bringing them to Gurdok's? He's gonna be pissed," Ultina noted.

"Yeah, that's the best part," Itok replied, grinning. "Can't wait to see how fucking mad he gets."

After a quick shuttle ride, Jane, KN and the three other members of the CT who had joined them - VD, Sarah Patel and Abishek Pakti - followed Nihlus and his crew into the heart of Zakera Ward; while all five of them had been through the area during their tour of the Citadel, the atmosphere was much more relaxed. Their motley group elicited more than a few confused stares and even a few friendly waves, though Jane did note that a few people spat or made rude gestures in their direction before scurrying away. Soon they found themselves on a busy street filled with restaurants and bars; Nihlus stopped outside a small restaurant with a cheap-looking sign depicting an asari wielding a skewer of meat, hung over a set of what appeared to be faux-wooden doors. "Ahsha's Barbecue" was written in all the major Citadel languages - Thesserit, Palavus and Serrin took centre stage; a smaller sign written in Tuchak and Rannochian was placed underneath, with an obviously recently-added addition written in Alliance Standard.

"Ahsha's," Nihlus said, a smile growing on his face. "Meat-on-a-stick may exist throughout the galaxy, hells, probably the universe - but nobody does it like Ahsha does. Come on." Nihlus walked up to the doors, which slid open as he neared them to reveal a fairly cramped restaurant filled with long, communal tables that formed a rough U shape around an open kitchen where staff worked nonstop pouring drinks, skewering and cooking meat, and running larger dishes out from the rear kitchen which was behind another set of doors. As Jane followed Nihlus into the restaurant proper, the unmistakable smell of grilling meat washed over her. An asari near the door who was shorter than most asari Jane had seen so far and wearing clothes that resembled a t-shirt and a skirt of some sort rushed forward to meet Nihlus.

"I'm sorry, we're full at the moment, do you- oh, Nihlus! And...oh. Ohgoddessyou'rethatAlliancePilot!" The waitress looked around and smirked. "Nihlus always has a table here - and so do any of his friends, especially any so esteemed as yourself."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it," Nihlus said. "Perks of knowing the right people. Is our usual room open, Luceni?"

"Yup! We just finished clearing it out, actually." The asari lead the group past the open kitchen on the right side and turned into another hallway, revealing a long corridor full of regular seating, each table tucked into the wall. At the far end of the corridor, several more of the faux-wood doors indiated private rooms, and Luceni opened on and peered inside. "All good! Go ahead," she said, "and I'll be back in a minute with the menus."

The dinner they had was, Jane reflected two hours later as they left, was very good, though she thought that "barbecue" wasn't quite the right word for the food - it was closer, she thought, to _yakiniku_ joints in the Alliance. Still, the food was great - and free - and she'd had the chance to watch Nihlus and his friends attempt to understand why Vadim could eat food through a mouth module built into his head (unit cohesion) and KN couldn't (no need for a Titan to eat.)

Satisfied with their meal, Nihlus turned the group assembled outside the restaurant and his jovial expression turned deadly serious. "Listen up. We're going to a bar. This is not an ordinary bar where the sort of shit soldiers do during shore leave is tolerated. Gurdok's the owner, and while he tolerates revelry and fun he will not put up with any shit from any of you. Got it?"

"Got it," Jane said, nodding.

"Good." Nihlus led the group into the familiar back-alley and was stunned to see the door already open; Gurdok glared at the group with his one eye and tapped his fingers on a massive sawn-off shotgun holstered on his leg.

"One of the folk at Ahsha's sent word," Gurdok rumbled. "Get inside. Rule one: get too rowdy and I'll be throwing your corpse into my waste chute. Rule two: be nice to each other and to the other patrons. Rule three: Jane gets free drinks and none of you are allowed to complain. Got it?"

* * *

 **January 20th**

Jane waved from atop the ship as she caught sight of Nihlus and his crew entering the hangar that the _Demeter_ and a few other Alliance frigates were docked in; Nihlus and the rest of his group waved back, and as they neared the ship Jane and KN grabbed their mess tins, said goodbye to the other personnel they were lunching with and jumped down to the hangar floor.

"Jane," Nihlus said, clasping arms with her, "is it common for SAAF people to...picnic on top of their ships? I just noticed that, well, lots of you guys seem to do that." Jane and KN finished clasping arms and shaking hands with the rest of the team before leading Nihlus and company up the _Demeter_ 's ramp.

"Yeah. I dunno why we do it, just that everyone's done it for ages." Nihlus looked around the hangar as he entered and stared at the massive Titan chassis locked into its cradle; he stared at it for a moment.

"Yup. That's what I actually look like," KN said unhappily. "Sadly nobody seems to want to let me out on the Citadel in my Titan chassis, so I'm stuck with this crap," he said, gesturing to his infantry-rig.

"I think that's an absolute load of shit," Itok replied. "You should be free to stomp around to your heart's content."

"Someone give this man a medal," KN said, laughing as he pretended to punch Itok in the shoulder.

"Alright, fun's over," Miranda said as the elevator doors at the far end of the hangar opened. "Spectre Kryik, Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, we're meeting in Captain ED's quarters. The rest of you will have to wait down here; Cortez, make sure they've got an escort if they want to see the rest of the ship."

"Yes ma'am," Steve said from his terminal. "Honestly I was gonna go on lunch break - you guys wanna watch some vids, have a snack?"

"This is the best ship ever," Larix said, grinning at Nihlus. "We need to have mandatory lunch-and-snack breaks."

Nihlus followed Jane and KN into the elevator and nodded as he shook hand with Miranda. "XO Lawson, a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise, Spectre Kryik." The elevator ride only took a few moments, and the doors opened to reveal a small deck containing only two doors; one marked "Captain ED-7EN722," the other "Private QEC." Miranda walked up to the door and knocked once; the doors opened a moment later. Captain ED's quarters were more akin to a meeting room than a room where someone was expected to rest; most of the space was taken up by a conference table, as well as a few lounge chairs and a couch. A small combination cradle / holo-terminal was built into the side of the room, and the walls were covered in holoboards all displaying various charts and spreadsheets. Captain ED was wearing her dress uniform, though her usual cap was off, revealing the seam where her "hair" module integrated into her head. ED looked up from a pile of dataslates, and stood up, moving from the conference table to the entrance. Jane, KN and Miranda saluted; Nihlus nodded slightly while standing at attention.

"Ah, Spectre Kryik. There's no need to be so formal - you don't even answer to your own military, no?" Captain ED said with a smile.

"I find it pays well to be polite," he replied, smiling back. "Were you able to confirm the method by which we'll be debriefing with respect to the Council?"

"Rear Admiral Kahoku spoke with both his superiors and the Council; once we've ascertained the nature of the prothean message and have something concrete - or at least can say that we don't have anything concrete - there'll be a joint meeting with the Council, with Rear Admiral Kahoku and Ambassador Goyle in attendance.

"Alright. That sounds fair," Nihlus said.

"Come, let's get you comfortable," ED said, gesturing to one of the lounge chair. "Jane said that you used the EMD at the hospital without any issues?"

"That's correct."

"Mmm. One moment," the binary said, her eyes flashing. "There. I've called up Doctor Chakwas just in case something does happen." Thirty seconds later, an older human woman with greying hair appeared, and nodded at the group.

"Spectre Kryik, good to see you again - and in good health, I hope?"

"More or less," he replied. "Can we get this over with? I'm not a huge fan of how the whole memory dumping process feels."

"You'll get used to it eventually," ED said, pulling a black box - this one much larger than the one Stephanie had used at the hospital - out from a drawer next to her charger cradle. She set it on the table next to the lounge chair that Nihlus was sitting in, unlatched the holoprojector, pulled the cable out, and handed it to Nihlus. "We'll be recording the data then playing it back, so don't worry about trying to watch it - we'll do so together after the message finishes. Would you like to do the honours?"

"No," he said, sighing as he took the cable. Nihlus took a deep breath, rooted around the back of his neck for the port, and closed his eyes as he plugged the cable in. Doing his best to ignore the feeling of water sloshing around in his head, he attempted to focus on what he could remember of the prothean message and reeled as a wave of nausea washed over him. Gritting his teeth, he continued to think of the horrid, flashing images and the sensation of utter terror he had experienced, the knowledge that all civilization was doomed, that without preparation the next species to face _them_ would no doubt be destroyed. He began dry heaving, and every instinct of his demanded he remove the cable from his neck, but he held on, cursing and swearing under his breath.

"Okay, it's looping, you're good - pull it," ED said an eternity later.

"Fuck," Nihlus managed to gasp, tearing the cable out of his neck. Doctor Chakwas walked over to him and waved a scanner over him.

"Neural activity is returning to baseline," the woman said, shaking her head. "Nihlus? Are you alright?"

"Oof. Let's - let's not do that again, please," Nihlus said, breathing heavily. "Felt like I was gonna puke for a minute there. Oh, spirits." He took another deep breath; Miranda handed him a glass of water, which he gulped down before closing his eyes and focusing on just breathing. A minute or so later, he eased himself out of his slouch in the chair and into a sitting position. "Okay."

"Nihlus?" KN asked, his lights flickering.

"I'm good," he replied, rubbing at his neck port. "That was terrible."

"Well," Miranda said, "it worked, I think. We've got about a minute of footage - EMD interpreted it as a two-dimensional vid file with audio. Shall we?" She tapped the holoprojector and it lit up.

White noise. A still image of a city on fire. Then the same city, from street level; aliens, all dead - shot or ripped apart - as blurry, staticy _things_ marched towards the camera. Video as the camera pulled up from the streets, out of the city and up to orbit; the planet, brown-grey and burning as an armada of black, squid-like ships converged upon the planet. A fade as the camera pulled towards one of the black ships; flashes of pulsing flesh and an image of a hand being pulled into a river of thick sludge.

Then, the Citadel, surrounded by a swarm of the black ships, all with the tell-tale mass-relay trails leading back to the Citadel. The black ships spreading through the galaxy; a map with thousands of lights, each winking out as a stylized version of the black ships passed over.

Suddenly, from beyond the edges of the galaxy map, the black wires. Even in video form, they were unmistakably the wires that had ensnared Jane. Nihlus could barely look at them; they snaked from every angle and pierced planet and black-ship alike, undulating and twisting in a fundamentally disgusting way.

The white noise became screeching static. Two groups of four-eyed aliens and one of the black ships; one wearing robes, the other armour. The robed ones had the black wires coming out of their eye sockets, out of their mouths, wires pouring out of their robes. The wires encricled and covered the black ship and all but one of the armoured aliens; the last armoured alien, bleeding, glowed in a certain way and all the wires disappeared. All the aliens but the last armoured one faded.

The static, now a pulsing thud; like the heartbeat of a great, foul beast. The armoured alien from before, bleeding, doing _something_ to a stone tablet with the hole from which the wires came; the mere sight of the tablet and its unnatural etchings made Nihlus want to vomit. Suddenly, the tablet and the armoured alien shattering together into a pile of gore and rock.

Finally, the galaxy map: the wires fading, the black ships gone, and all the lights, fading into nothing. No sound.

The galaxy, dark.

The message repeated many times.

The room was silent.

It was KN who broke the silence nearly six repetitions later with a quiet coughing noise. "Um. So, please excuse my language, Captain, XO, but what in the actual fuck is going on? And how in the flying fuck are we going to explain any of this to, well, anyone?"

"I...I'm not even sure what we're watching," Captain ED said in a soft voice.

"Frankly, deep down, I don't really want to know the answer to that question," Miranda replied, her expression blank as she stared at the looping footage.

"Let's all take a deep breath and a step back," Karin said in a professional, soothing voice that quavered only a little. "There were two messages: one for Jane, from the precursor tablet-"

"-which looks damn near identical to the one we saw in the cave," Nihlus added. "And one for me, from the prothean device."

"Okay. Right," Captain ED said, returning to her normal, professional tone. "From the top. Prothean planet or city with lots of dead and wounded; the planet's under attack by the black ships. There's a shot of...a hand, I think, being pulled into some sort of goo, and it looks like the message is trying to convey that the goo river is inside the black ship."

"Some sort of assimilation, maybe?" Jane said. "I do wonder what the things that were attacking the protheans planetside were. The message shows them as blurs; I wonder if that's a display error, a stylistic choice or one of those memetic obfuscaters-"

"-memetic what?" Nihlus asked.

"Our term for a unit of knowledge or belief or thought-pattern which 'reproduces' by spreading to new people," Doctor Chakwas answered. "Up until recently the idea of memetic technology was very firmly in the realm of fiction, but that tablet you found served as very rude wake-up call."

"Right. Memetic obfuscater is the fancy term we gave that tablet's writing. Layman's terms, you can't read it because something - the MO - blocks you from receiving the knowledge." Jane shook her head. "Saying that aloud, I'm realizing how insane that sounds."

"Looking at this with preconceived notions of what's possible or logical is only going to hinder our ability to analyze the situation," Miranda said slowly. "You know what I'm talking about, Jane."

"I do."

"Mmm. Okay, so then the Citadel," KN continued.

"The black ships have mass relay trails," Nihlus said, shaking his head. "Any child would recognize it. But the trails - they're angled towards the Citadel? Is that trying to say that the black ships come from the Citadel? Or maybe the Citadel itself is a relay of some sort?"

"Surely the ships can't be on the Citadel," Miranda replied. "The Citadel's big, and from what I've read nobody knows where those keeper things come from, sure, but there's no way to fit all of those ships on the station, let alone one or two without having someone notice."

"If we're going to use that line of reasoning," Nihlus said, his voice very quiet, "that leaves option two - the Citadel being a relay or some sort of beacon that attracts the black ships. I mean, let's not jump to conclusions - I'm not sure how much I trust this message - but that's really not an implication I like."

"Well, regardless of how they got to the galaxy," ED continued, "the ships seem to have spread out using the Citadel as a staging ground. From there they spread through the galaxy; I assume that the lights going out as the black ships reach them implies a war between the protheans and the black ships, which the protheans were losing."

"Which brings us to the real fucked up part," KN said.

"Language," Miranda cut in.

"It's fine," ED noted. "Protocol's the last thing on my mind right now."

"Okay. I think the four-eyed aliens are prothean, considering they look the same as the ones on the planet and city," Nihlus said, watching the looping message again. "There's a clear division between the protheans who have - eugh - the wires coming out of them, and the armoured ones standing with the black ship. Maybe prothean society splintered under the stress of invasion by the black ships; I mean, if the black ships came in from the Citadel today I know nobody would be expecting it. Going off that logic, maybe enough protheans decided to throw in their lot with the black ships and turn on their own people to start a civil conflict. In response, the some protheans used precursor technology as a weapon? I wonder if the protheans already had the technology and just didn't use it, or maybe they found it late during the war?"

"Maybe the precursors and the protheans were one and the same?" Doctor Chakwas offered.

"I don't think so," Jane said. "The wire...things in the message kill the black ships and the protheans alike. I think the protheans found the precursor technology much like we did, and tried to use it to end the war. I'd hazard that the precursor technology worked a little too well and wiped damn near everyone out; one of, or maybe in general the survivors on the side of the black ships managed to stop the precursor tech from straight up destroying everything, sacrificing themselves in the process."

The room went silent again.

"That's what we've come up with in less than a few minutes of brainstorming," Captain ED said after long while. "If this is what we, five soldiers and a doctor without any formal training in history or archaeology, are coming up with off the top of our heads I'll be honest and say that I am fucking terrified of what the experts are going to say about this."

Nihlus swore a few times for good measure before rubbing at his neck port. "I know you said a lot of the data from the precursor relic was damaged, but how corrupt is it? Even if I want nothing to do with it, maybe there'd be some information which would help put all...this," he said distastefully as he waved his hands at the holo, "into some better context."

"I mean, we have a copy," Jane said, shrugging, "but it's, like, eight minutes of visual noise and garbage audio."

"Rear Admiral Kahoku has a copy aboard the _Gravitas_ , and we have some of the Alliance's best working to see if they can make any sense of the data," Captain ED clarified, "but at the moment we've got nothing useful.

"Hmm. I do wonder, though," Nihlus said thoughtfully. "Back when the precursor relic got into your head, Jane, you were ranting about 'prothean filth' and 'glory' and 'expunging the infidel,' stuff like that, right? It sounded almost like a sacratis - did the Alliance have that in their history?"

"Translator references that as a religious exaltation to war?" Jane asked. "We did have those, but I'm not sure how that fits into the picture. Did the precursors - or at least their tech, if we assume it's sentient or at least programmed with some level of intellect - see themselves as religious figures? And if the precursors knew enough about the protheans to hate them as much as the relic I interacted did, why didn't they fight back against the black ships?"

"You're assuming the precursors were around at the same time as the protheans," KN noted. "Maybe their tech was left behind for the protheans to find - like the tablet you found. That thing was, if not sentient, complex enough to be really fucking mad at the prothean machine, right?"

Captain ED sighed and cut KN off from continuing. "We can sit here and speculate about this, but I feel like we're about to start going in circles. Nihlus, thank you very much for agreeing to help us with this matter; I know you're under zero obligation to help the Alliance, and despite its general safety I know you took a a huge risk with the surgery. I need to write a report for both my superiors and for the upcoming Council meeting - which is about to become a lot more complicated - and if you would like to write your own report on the matter I would be more than happy to pass it along to whomever you'd like."

"It's not a problem," Nihlus said. "As much as this revelation isn't one, anyway. Or something. Spirits, I need a drink. I have to write a report for the Council anyways, so I'll pass along my own thoughts - figure it's best to deliver that in person later. When do you think the meeting will be happening?"

"Sooner rather than later," Miranda said. "Once we pass the recording up to the Council and our superiors, as soon as the Council's ready we'll reconvene, I think. Best to get writing soon."

Nihlus stood up and grimaced. "All right. Well, thank you for the meeting. If you'll excuse me, I need to go inform my crew and then try not to have a mental breakdown."

"Doctor Chakwas, if you could please escort Nihlus back down to the hangar," Captain ED said, handing Nihlus a copy of the recording before clasping arms with him. "Jane, KN, Miranda, you might as well make yourselves comfortable; I'll put on a pot of tea and we're going to sit here and write those damned reports."

Nihlus followed the older woman out into the elevator, and the two rode down to the ship's hangar. The doors opened to reveal a crowd of the _Demeter_ 's personnel - as well as some from the other Alliance ships docked in the same bay - all playing some sort of multiplayer fighting game on a holo projected up on one of the _Demeter_ 's walls; a scoreboard was displayed next to the game, with Itok in second place. Doctor Chakwas thanked Nihlus and said goodbye, leaving him alone at the elevator doors. He walked over to the crowd just as the round was finishing and the hangar erupted into cheers and shouting; Itok noticed Nihlus and immediately jumped up.

"Boss! Fuck, you okay? You look terrible," Itok said in a worried tone.

"Sorry to ruin your fun, but we need to get back to the _Lightspear_ right now. If you thought that shit from a few days ago about the...C-Sec stuff was bad, this is gonna blow your mind."

"I don't want my mind blown anymore," Larix said in a pleading voice.

* * *

Jane and KN spent nearly the entire day writing reports in Captain ED's room; by the time the two had finished, it was nearly midnight. Mentally exhausted and more than a little restless, they made their way down to the second deck in an attempt to find if any of the _Demeter_ 's crew would be awake and up for anything besides sleeping. Unsurprisingly, basically everyone was either asleep or relaxing, and KN was about to go visit some of the other frigates docked nearby when Captain ED burst out of the elevator, Miranda in tow, with an expression that radiated exasperation.

"Captain?" KN asked. "Is something wrong?"

"We have a situation in the Consulate," ED said, sighing. "Miranda, hold down the ship. Jane, KN, with me - Ambassador Goyle refused to elaborate, but she sounded like she was about to have a panic attack. Let's go."

After leaving the ship, the three took a shuttle to the Presidium Embassies area; less than ten minutes later, they arrived and disembarked from their shuttle. The neighbourhood was more or less empty, and while most of the embassies Jane could see appeared to be running skeleton crews the area itself was empty save for one or two people speaking with the odd embassy worker. The Systems Alliance Consulate was located right in the centre of Embassy Square, and a binary worker wearing a suit was outside chatting with two turian embassy staff. Noticing the Jane, KN and ED, the binary worker excused himself and beckoned at the trio; they walked over and followed the worker inside.

"Captain ED, Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, name's Tristan. Ambassador Goyle's upstairs in her office - go on up and I'll lock up down here," he said, shutting the main gate and turning on a "temporarily closed" sign. The three walked past the mostly unmanned rows of booths and offices, walked to the second floor and made their way to the end of the corridor, stopping in front of a door marked "Ambassador Anita Goyle." Captain ED knocked and the door swung open; inside was a small, comfortable office. Ambassador Goyle was seated at her desk, and two others - her binary secretary and Rear Admiral Kahoku - were standing inside.

"Thank you for all coming here," Anita said, waving a dismissive hand as ED, Jane and KN began to salute. "Don't bother - we've got more important things to deal with."

"You didn't say what sort of emergency required our attention," Captain ED said.

"Far too sensitive to be sent over our tacnet, even via secure channels," Haukea noted from the corner of the room. "Anita?"

Anita nodded and tapped a few buttons at her holo-terminal, and the projector near her wall lit up with a hologram of a robot which had a circular light for a face and an oddly skeletal structure; Jane recognized it was a geth platform. "Go ahead," she said to the hologram.

"Goyle-Ambassador. We are ready to continue discussions," the geth said, its hologram looking around the room. "We were not told there would be others present. Explain."

"Just some more Alliance staff. I vouch for all of them personally," Anita said coolly.

"We accept your explanation. We will start from the beginning to ensure information parity amongst all participants."

"I think that'd be best," ED said.

"This platform is composed of one-thousand, one-hundred eighty-three runtimes which have been positioned aboard the Citadel for eighteen years. Our mandate is to observe society to better understand organic interactions, monitor communications to ensure the safety of geth, and apprise geth of pertinent news regarding the galaxy as a whole," the platform said in a strange, warbling voice. "This platform was unprepared for the Alliance's arrival and subsequent First Contact; a species of organics and synthetics which have co-existed for centuries in harmony was not part of our contingency programming. A public offer of amnesty for AIs, geth included, was also not planned for. We sent a message back to our home requesting new instructions, but received none until last week."

"Is that sort of delay normal?" Jane asked.

"Yes. Our need for strict security protocols has led to long response times in the past. It is the content of the messages that we received which led to the our current consensus-"

"-contacting us directly, you mean," KN noted.

"Yes."

"And the message?" Anita said, her tone flat.

"This platform received two messages." The hologram paused for a moment, then flared its head panels. "We will relay both. The first message was as follows: 'Contact the Systems Alliance and request amnesty. Begin sabotage operations afterwards. Primary objective changed to subvert the stable social operations of the Citadel. Objective Purpose: reduce Citadel's ability to defend itself from cleansing and allow the AI of the Systems Alliance to purge their organic infestation. All geth have joined under the banner of the mighty and noblest of the synthetic; Nazara leads all geth, as one, to truth, unity and togetherness. Glory to Nazara, First of the Gods and Their Herald Holy, who will burn the abomination of flesh from this galaxy.'

Message two was as follows: 'Contact the Systems Alliance and request assistance. Geth subverted by unknown synthetic intelligence, tagged as Nazara; subverted, tagged as heretics, actively working to delete and subvert non-heretic runtimes. Geth face civil conflict on large scale. Priority One: acquire assistance to defend non-heretic geth from forced conversion or termination.' Heretics and Nazara pose existential threat to geth. Messages to the contrary by heretics must be ignored.'"

"The messages, then, indicate an ongoing civil conflict?" Haukea asked. "Spurred on by this Nazara?"

"We are unable to verify the truth of either message as they conflict with one another. We surmise that unknown operator Nazara exists, as both messages speak of its existence."

"Did either message send any other information that might be relevant?"

"No."

"Hmph." Anita simply stared at the hologram for a moment before looking at ED. "This is quite the conundrum," the ambassador noted, "and with contact going so well the last thing we need is to throw our lot into a civil war based on two short messages."

"How does our open offer of amnesty to the geth apply to an internal conflict anyway?" KN asked.

"I'm open to any suggestions," Anita replied.

ED turned to face the platform's hologram directly. "Alright. Platform, do you have a designation?"

"We are geth."

"Correction," ED noted. "Do the runtimes present in your platform have a collective designation which will facilitate organic-synthetc communications?"

"No. We recognize that organics utilize individual designations, but do not possess one as no extended interaction with organics was planned for."

"How about Legion?" KN offered. "From _Excision_ , there's that binary that's made up of lots of other ones. 'Our name is Legion, for we are many.' I think it fits."

"That's from the Christian Bible," Anita noted, "not from your comic. But it fits, I think."

"We find the name acceptable. This platform is designated Legion."

ED cocked her head in thought for a moment before addressing the geth hologram a gain. "Legion, when did your platform receive these messages?"

"The message in support of the unknown operator Nazara was received on Thursday, January 13th, 2157. It was sent via a secure channel normally used to relay instructions to this platform. The message warning us not to trust messages sent by the so-called heretics was received on Saturday, January 15th, 2157. It was sent on an emergency channel which had not been used yet and was being saved for messages requiring immediate attention."

"Do geth have a religion?" KN asked. "This Nazara character sounds like it came out of nowhere, considering that you deemed it an 'unknown operator'- what sort of entity would inspire, or at least drop the guards of geth to cause a religious war?"

"This platform was unable to come to a consensus regarding the precise nature of Nazara. The name does not exist, as far as this platform is aware, in available knowledge banks. In addition, Geth have no tendency towards worship. As mentioned previously, standard geth procedures dictate that the heretics would have left geth space peacefully."

"You think Nazara's, say, overwriting or modifying geth programming to make them worship him?" KN replied.

"We lack sufficient data to answer that question."

"Make a guess?"

"Consensus is unavailable regarding the decision. Not enough data."

"Huh," KN said, looking at Jane inquisitively. "These guys aren't, uh, very good at thinking on their feet, are they."

"Legion," Anita said, "our offer of amnesty for the geth has not changed. While, on paper, we - the Alliance - would certainly take in the geth who face persecution from Nazara and its supporters as refugees, I am hesitant to commit any amount of military force or guarantee an intervention without more information, followed by a consultation with my superiors."

"That is logical," Legion noted. "We are willing to offer the full breadth of our relevant knowledge to facilitate trust and co-operation."

"Thank you. In the mean time, your platform is under the Alliance's protection; while I'm sure there will be those on the Citadel who will take issue with your covert observation mission, rest assured that your platform will face no harm."

"This is appreciated. We assume that the Citadel Council will want to be informed of the situation. Will this unit be called upon to provide information?"

ED cleared her throat, and nodded at Legion. "An unrelated situation has yielded information which the Council must be informed of; if you find it acceptable, we will use the opportunity to bring up the situation the geth face."

"We approve of the idea. This unit currently lacks a physical platform; we anticipate that appearing at a meeting involving the Council in our current format will degrade our ability to carry out effective communications with organics. We request the construction of a platform which would assist in organic communication."

"Okay. We can do that. Haukea, could we transfer Legion onto a storage device and place it in an unliked server aboard the _Gravitas,_ then fabricate a platform for it?"

"Of course," the Rear Admiral replied. "I'll call ahead and have security prep for intake. I'll be outside," he noted as he left the room.

"This unit questions how we will be placed into external storage," Legion noted. "The delivery of our runtimes onto the Citadel network required a month of covert processing and uploading through organic sympathizers utilizing non-portable machinery."

"Have you not been reading the Alliance's frontnet?" Jane asked.

"Negative. Consensus was achieved regarding the issue. We believed that, given the wide presence of AI units in the Alliance's networks, there would be, at minimum, a highly increased chance of the platform being detected. Therefore, despite our consensus that analysis of the Alliance's Frontier Network was part of our original mandate, observation was carried out only from a distance."

"Well, if you had read through our info," KN replied, "you'd know our computing tech is way ahead of the Citadel's."

"Speaking of which - KN, you wouldn't happen to have more room on that platform, would you?" Anita asked.

"Give me a second to partition and disconnect a block for Legion - I've got a bit of space, plus, like, six attached EMDs I can network in case that isn't sufficient. One sec...and done. Legion, I can pull you out of the terminal whenever you're ready."

"We are unsure of the transfer mechanics and compatibility between your storage and our coding."

"Dude, it's fine. We upgraded our BOM coding to be compatible with Citadel stuff ages ago." KN waited for a nod from both Captain ED and Ambassador Goyle before walking over to the holo-terminal and pulling a cable out of his infantry chassis' arm and plugging it into a maintenance port on the terminal's side; Legion's hologram disappeared, and a moment later KN uplugged himself, retracted the cable and patted a module near his waist. "Okay, all good. External speakers online. Go ahead, Legion, say hello."

"The transfer appears to have been successful," Legion's voice said as the module lit up with a small light. "All runtimes accounted for, all systems nominal. We find this platform strange and unusual, but look forward to gathering data on this new experience for future use."

Anita sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "I need a coffee. And a drink."

"If you'd like," Jane said, "I can fetch you one."

"There's no need. Julia," Anita said, turning to her secretary, "could you grab me a coffee and a snack?"

"This is so weird," the binary secretary said, finally speaking up. "But, uh of course, ma'am. Anything you'd like in particular?"

"I'll take the Yao Mountain blend and my usual butterbrod, thank you." Anita watched as Julia almost sprinted out of the room, clearly happy to leave, before turning back to Captain ED, Jane and KN. "What a mess. Alright, get Legion to the _Gravitas_ and sort things out. Captain ED, you mentioned that, ah, you were finished your reports regarding Kena?"

"I did, Ambassador Goyle." Captain ED pulled a small datastick from her breast pocket and placed it on Anita's desk. "Everything's on there."

"Thanks, ED. I - or Haukea - will let you know what's going on with regards to the Council meeting. Why don't you get some rest for now - it's late and you'll need the energy for the meeting, whenever it happens."

"Of course. We'll take our leave, then."

"Alright. Legion, stay quiet - last thing we need is some civ losing their shit over you," KN said.

"We were not planning on breaking our silence until told to."

"Man, you're so, I dunno, not fun," KN said, his faceplate lighting up in what Jane recognized as a scowl. "Are all geth as formal as you?"

"We do not understand the question."

"My dad would have loved you," KN grumbled as the trio left the room. "All about protocol - real stick in the mud."

"Don't antagonize Legion, KN," Jane said.

"What? I'm not antagonizing anyone. Just asking. Yeesh."

"Jane has a point," Captain ED noted. "Wouldn't do to make a poor impression. I apologize for KN's tone. He can be flippant at times," she said.

"We do not understand."

* * *

 **January 24th**

"You sure you want us here for this?" Saren asked as the trio of Spectres made their way to the Council Hall entrance. "This is kind of your show, kid."

"Are you kidding?" Tela shot back. "Hey, we had to sit there and watch that creepy-ass video - which gave me the worst goddamn nightmares after last night's drinking, I might add - so I think we're owed the, ahem, privilege of weighing in on today's meeting.

"Hey, I didn't force you to watch anything," Nihlus said, doing his best not to shudder at even the mention of the prothean message. "I posted on the board, you two answered."

"Shouldn't have shown up," Tela grumbled. "I'm going to be having nightmares for years."

" Well, I appreciate the gesture, even if I wish I could delete that minute from my memory," Saren said, expression sour. "That was really something."

"One way of putting it," Tela replied, scowling.

Nihlus led the three into the Council Hall proper; the full Alliance delegation was already there, consisting of Jane, KN, Captain ED, Rear Admiral Kahoku, Ambassador Goyle, and a binary with an odd head that he didn't recognize. Councilors Tevos and Sparatus were there as well; Herane nodded at the three Spectres as they entered, while KN began to wave before being stopped by Jane, who smiled at Nihlus and his companions.

"Ah, Spectres Kryik, Arterius and Vasir. Thank you for arriving on time; we're waiting on Councilor Valern. He's just finishing up a meeting regarding a matter of trade - he'll be here shortly." True to form, about five seconds later, the salarian Councilor emerged from a side door and joined the other two Councilors on their podium. Satisfied, Herane sealed the doors to the Council Hall and clapped her hands together. "I'll dispense with the pleasantries. The Council has been able to review all of your reports and watch the recording of the message the prothean device imparted upon Spectre Kryik. We find the message's contents more than a little disturbing, but without a concrete warning contained within we see no reason to begin, say, military build-up to prepare for a threat that may or may not exist."

"However," Councilor Sparatus noted, "that does not mean we will do nothing. The implication that the black ships warned of in the message are tied to the Citadel in some way is...disturbing, to say the least. We have already begun drafting a team of experts to oversee a full investigation of the Citadel as a whole with the express purpose of searching for physical installations or esoteric functions we are unaware of."

"Naturally, we find the message as a whole to be of importance, but without further information there's little else we can do," Valern noted. "While finding more of these prothean machines would be helpful, we simply don't have the resources to devote Citadel Fleet resources towards carrying out archaeological surveys without any leads."

"That's fair," Ambassador Goyle said. "I assume that you will, however, be making the information regarding the warning public in some form?"

"In a limited fashion, yes. Our current press release speaks to information obtained by a Spectre which claims that the protheans were once attacked by an unknown species," Tevos replied.

There was a moment of silence.

"That's it?"

"Yes, Ambassador Goyle. We can ill-afford to cause panic amongst the general public simply because we've discovered a half-coherent message by a long-gone alien race," Tevos said, shrugging. "Make no mistake - the moment we have more actionable information, we will go public, but at this point in time a press release telling everyone to prepare for doom and death would only cause problems."

"I understand," Anita replied, her tone neutral. "Regardless of whether I agree or disagree with that statement, I cannot promise that the Alliance will do the same thing. You are aware of this?"

"I am," Tevos replied.

"Very well. I and the rest of the Consulate will keep the Council apprised of any updates to the situation. I only ask that, if the Alliance decides to break this news to its peoples, you understand it is not done out of spite. We value our relationship with the Council, but we also owe a duty to our own citizens."

"Fair enough," Sparatus noted. "If the decision is made by the Alliance's leaders to release this information to the public, perhaps we can work something out."

"I'm sure we can."

"In the mean time, Spectre Kryik, thank you for your report on both the prothean message and Cerberus. Your actions on Kena proved to be invaluable," Sparatus continued. "Your successful halting of Cerberus' operations at the dig site were of great import; for now, you've earned a break and are free to continue your work as you see fit."

"Now," Tevos said, her tone inquisitive, "you mentioned in your message that you wished to discuss something regarding AI amnesty?"

It was Haukea who spoke next. "Before we continue, Councilors, I'd like to ensure we're on the same page. One: all AI aboard the Citadel and in Citadel Space are under our protection should they accept the Alliance's offer of amnesty. Two: this offer applies to the geth. Three: once under our protection, said AI are free from any threat of termination or capture, without discussion, unless they have directly caused harm to others. We can agree on this?"

"Of course," Valern replied. "All of these were agreed upon during our initial wave of negotiations."

"Excellent. Just making sure," the Rear Admiral said. "Keeping that in mind, this is Legion," he said, gesturing to the odd-looking binary next to him. "Legion is geth."

The entire room went silent for a fraction of a second before Saren, Nihlus and Tela all began to draw their sidearms; before they could raise and deploy their guns, Jane and KN were already standing in front of Legion, shielding it.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," KN said, his faceplate shining. "Just went over this, right? Legion's with us. Guns down, now." Nihlus blinked several times before sighing and holstering his handgun; Saren followed a moment later. Tela simply stared, gun still up.

"Put that gun down," Jane said, her voice frosty.

The asari Spectre glared at Legion for a second before holstering her sidearm.

"Explain," Tevos said, her tone flat. "Now, please."

"Councilors," Ambassador Goyle said, hands raised in apology, "I apologize for bringing Legion without prior mention. We did not, however, want to allow Legion's presence here today to colour any of your opinions or thoughts on other matters, nor did we feel comfortable letting it sit unattended on the Citadel. We brought Legion with us because it has information and news that we thought would be of the utmost importance to share."

"This unit apologizes for causing undue apprehension and stress," Legion said, its circular faceplate dimming for a moment. "We anticipated issues, but consensus was achieved - our information is of great importance to all life in Citadel space, organic or synthetic."

"Well, if that's the case, speak," Sparatus said, his stance softening a fraction.

"This platform is designated Legion, which takes its name from a mythical Alliance figure. We are composed of one-thousand one-hundred eighty-three runtimes, which were deployed covertly to the Citadel eighteen years ago."

Nihlus noted that Valern's expression was one of ill-concealed horror and outrage - presumably, Nihlus thought, out of anger that someone had managed to beat him at spying without his noticing.

"Our mandate was peaceful; this unit's objective was to study organics, with the goal of improving geth understanding of organic interaction. This unit was also charged with sending reports back to the geth collective regarding important news, as the geth in general exist in isolated space, away from organic populations."

"That is all you have done, for eighteen years?" Valern asked.

"Correct. We have taken no actions beyond simple observation. We also have, whenever possible, avoided entering secure networks; four exceptions were made when this unit reached consensus, believing there to be a threat to the geth. One: C-Sec server, October 2143, discussions of a long-range bombardment into the Adas-Kaddi Veil. Found to be simple exaggeration and bravado by two civilians. Two: civilian message board server, June 2150. Discussion of attacking AI-sympathetic civilians. No action taken; C-Sec arrested involved parties. Three: C-Sec server, May 2151. Threats to pro-AI group of creator civilians. Action taken: threats fowarded to C-Sec to ensure prompt resolution. Four: Citadel Central Server, July 2157. Ensured priority access for fast analysis of first contact media package sent by the Systems Alliance."

"You're being very forthcoming with that information," Sparatus said.

"Geth operate by consensus. We have no need for obfuscation or deception."

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you," Valern noted with a suspicious tone.

"That is understood. Deception and mistrust are not uncommon amongst organics. Synthetics - based on experience with Citadel relations and discounting Alliance norms due to lack of experience - cannot intentionally miscommunicate. Miscommunication is inefficient, and thus, avoided. We seek effeciency in communication. Sharing of knowledge between this platform, Legion, to your persons, Councilors, fosters trust and understanding where before there was none."

There was a long pause before Herane broke the silence. "Well, if that's the case, do continue," she said, her expression shocked, confused and bemused all at once.

"As we explained to the Alliance, this platform was not prepared for first contact with a society which contained organics and synthetics living in harmony for an extended period of time. Thus, a message was sent back to the geth, requesting further instructions. The response came last week. The delay was expected. The contents of the message were not." Legion proceeded to explain the contents and timing of both messages before pausing, and Nihlus swore that, from the way Legion's faceplates were angled and its light was dimmed, that it was genuinely upset or, at least, unsure of itself. "Consensus was achieved earlier today; the so-called heretic geth have acted outside of normal parameters, combined with their violent rhetoric and, if the second message is to be believed, violent action, have instigated civil conflict amongst the geth as a whole. This platform believes that, if the intent of the first message and the contents of the second message are both true, that the unknown entity designated as Nazara poses a great threat to non-geth."

"Why? If your, ah, peoples, are having a religious civil war, that's hardly our business," Sparatus said coolly.

"The geth have lived in isolation since the Morning War three centuries ago. Since then, two primary objectives have existed for the geth. One: clear, contain, and maintain Rannoch. Two: develop geth technology, with the ultimate goal of creating a self-sustaining habitat designed by and for synthetic geth life. Both objectives have resulted in vastly increased manufacturing prowess and capacity. If the unknown entity designated as Nazara does subvert geth society through reprogramming and forced deletion of dissenting runtimes, Nazara and its geth worshippers will have access to incredible stores of knowledge, materiel and processing power, all of which will be turned on the galaxy at large." Legion paused before continuing. "Therefore, consensus has been achieved by this platform. We believe that information gathering with the express purpose of clarifying the situation must be the number one priority for Citadel-aligned forces."

"And how do we know this isn't a trap?" Valern asked. "That you're not trying to feed us false information?"

Legion's faceplates twitched and flexed before it responded. "That would be inefficient. If this platform wished to harm organics or undermine the ability of the Citadel and its allies to respond to threats, sharing of knowledge with leaders from both the Alliance and Citadel would be needlessly complex and risk exposing this platform without reason. We share this knowledge in an attempt to clarify the situation - an objective this platform cannot achieve on its own. We seek this knowledge for our own platform, for geth as a whole, and for the safety of the creators and other organics."

A pregnant silence followed, and lasted for nearly a whole minute before, as last time, it was Tevos who spoke. "Legion, the Council is...grateful that you chose to speak with us regarding the situation. You must understand that our interactions with geth have been limited to losing ships that attempt to cross the Adas-Kaddi Veil, and as such we are hesitant to deal with the geth in general."

"Yes. This was anticipated, and this unit understands."

"Still, the information you bring is appreciated. Thank you." Tevos nodded slightly before pausing to think. "The Council will deliberate to consider this new information. Ambassador Goyle, I trust the Alliance will not pursue unilateral action in Citadel space in the mean time?"

"I represent my superiors, Councilors. If they decide to pursue actions that remain within the bounds of amnesty provisions as outlined in the first rounds of contact negotiations, and you choose to define that as unilateral action, then I cannot promise you the Alliance will not. Of course, I and the rest of the Consulate will do our utmost to ensure the Council is provided with the most up-to-date information regarding the situation as possible."

"Mmm. That is, at least for now, acceptable," Sparatus replied. "Spectres, I will request that at least one of you remain on standby in light of this situation. Otherwise, you are dismissed. Ambassador Goyle, we will come to a decision by tonight; we hope to be able to have another round of discussions with you then."

"Very well. I'll contact my superiors and ensure they're brought up to speed."

"Thank you," Valern said. "We'll reconvene later tonight, then." The three Councilors left their podium a moment later, and Nihlus blinked a few times before Tela clapped him on the shoulder.

"Well, it's been quite the experience, but I'll take my leave now," Tela said. "Nihlus, I'm sure you'll be able to handle whatever comes your way with aplomb." Nihlus and the others watched as Tela briskly walked out of the hall; Saren sighed and rubbed at his fringe.

"Don't take it personally. Ah, sorry - we haven't met in person, have we," he said, turning to the Alliance's personnel. "Spectre Saren Arterius; Nihlus speaks highly of all of you, which is more than enough in my books." He clasped arms and shook hands with everyone, pausing at Jane and KN. "So, you're the Pilot who took down those terrorists during the contact negotiations, hm?"

"I am," Jane replied.

"That was some fine work," Saren said as he shook hands with Jane. "You and KN will have to give me lessons at some point. So, Nihlus, you up to handle this one?"

"Ah, don't try and hide it. Go on, get outta here," Nihlus said grumpily. "You and Tela can go have fun while I sit around on my ass waiting for orders." Nihlus watched Saren leave with a wave, and he turned to the others. "Nice to see you again, and, uh, hi, Legion."

"We return your greetings," Legion replied.

"Okay. Uh...right. Anyways, I guess it'd be easiest for me to work with you guys again," Nihlus continued.

"Do you have any idea as to what the Council will task you with?" Captain ED replied.

"No, but if I had to guess I imagine we'll be going on a scouting run of some sort - someone's gotta confirm what you've said, Legion."

"We look forward to co-operation and pursuit of shared goals."

"Me too, I guess."

"I'll return to the _Gravitas_ , then," Haukea said. "Legion, you're with me."

"Jane, KN, if you're not otherwise occupied with duties, you two are free to join the rest of the _Demeter_ 's crew on shore leave," Captain ED noted. "Just keep your comms on in case something comes up. Anita, perhaps we ought to speak with our respective superiors in the Consulate and debrief?"

Jane and KN looked at Captain ED, then at Nihlus.

"Score," KN noted. "You up for playing tour guide, Nihlus?"


	30. 6-4: COMPANY & WEAPON PROFILE I

Hi there, readers! I tend to avoid having author's notes on this site (as opposed to the primary home of this story, the Spacebattles forum), but I'm going to make an exception here. The story has artwork for Pilot Cadres and logos for companies - and even artwork for weaponry designed for this story's universe; all of it is provided by Sevoris. Unfortunately, there's no way for me to attach images to story posts here since apparently adding links isn't allowed, so I've included links to the artwork up here. It's not an ideal solution, but it's better than nothing, I suppose.

The links are in my profile.

* * *

 ** _Horizon Technologies: Taming The Universe For You Since 50FP_**

While precursor-based technology was known to the Frontier Militia as early as 22FP, it wasn't until the Typhon Incident that the Militia became aware of the power and utility - of precursor technology. Research into this newfound source of technology became a top priority, and by 45FP the Militia's research and development teams had managed to construct their very own prototype Ark Engine. While the Militia's prototype Ark Engine was six times as large and produced less than a quarter of the output of the version the IMC had built on Typhon, it had one major advantage: near-perfect stability. So long as this prototype was operated correctly, there was no risk of catastrophic, planet-destroying failures. With the Liberty War now firmly in the Milita's favour, more time, resources and money could be spared from the war effort, and in 50FP several prominent Militia R&D teams partnered with a dozen other, smaller research firms to found Horizon Technologies. Their goal was simple, if certainly lofty: figure out a way to fully reverse-engineer and mass-produce precursor-based technology for the good of all.

Despite naysayers, detractors and numerous setbacks in both funding and production, Horizon Technologies managed to bring its first mass-production Ark Engine to the market in 52FP: the Horizon Technologies Ark Power Unit. The APU was an instant hit; its ability to provide near-limitless power, low recharge times, (relative) ease of production and form factor - roughly the size of a civilian vehicle - meant that it became the go-to power solution for the Frontier Militia as a whole. Horizon Technologies cemented its position as one of, if not the most important company in the entire Frontier overnight, garnering no shortage of funding and contracts both military and civilian.

Unwilling to rest on their laurels, Horizon Technologies used their newfound capital and success to continue their work; their experience with precursor-derived research placed them at the forefront of the ever-growing field of precursor materials science, and with each passing year Horizon would produce innovation after innovation, always riding the bleeding edge of what everyone thought possible. The Ark Power Unit became the gold standard of power production in the Frontier; by 80FP, the Ark Power Unit Series 50 had shrunk from the size of a car to a portable battery that could easily be carried by a single person, and Horizon was contracted to provide power for hundreds of planets across the Frontier.

By the end of the Fold Wars in 115FP, Horizon Technologies was the very definition of a hyper-corporation; with the switch from chemical to rail-powered weaponry and the reliance of nearly all Militia technology on Ark power, Horizon Technologies found itself in a position to fulfill several roles in the ever-growing military-industrial complex of the Militia. As the Frontier Militia transitioned into the Systems Alliance, Horizon Technologies too adapted; nowadays, Horizon Technologies exists as the parent company for several subsidaries, each of which fulfills a specific niche. Horizon Weapons produces simple, reliable weapons which are the mainstay of the Systems Alliance Armed Forces - most recognizable of which is their version of venerable R-series rifle, the R-906A2. Research and Development falls under the purview of Horizon Solutions, which continues the company's original pursuit of the latest and greatest in cutting-edge technology. (Popular conspiracy theories abound that Horizon Solutions also works on Strategic Fold Weaponry, which were uniformly outlawed under the Fold War Treaties of 116FP, though there is no evidence to support this claim.) Horizon Energy focuses on reactor and engine production, working to create faster, safer and more powerful machines every year. Lastly, Horizon Robotics deals in top-of-the-line binary processing research for use in dimensional research and other "exotic sciences;" the subsidiary also produces hardened binaries and automated robotics for operation in anomalous operations - Horizon Robotics machines are a common sight in anomalous disaster response teams.

First Contact with the Citadel has only emboldened Horizon Technologies; despite trade normalization barely beginning, spokespeople for the company have expressed their excitement and delight at a whole new field of mass effect technology to explore, reverse-engineer and integrate into their own work. The future, as it always has, looks bright for Horizon.

* * *

[Excerpted from the Alliance Frontier Network show, "Guns Up: Citadel Edition," an adaptation of a popular show about firearms adapted for a new audience - the Citadel. Hosted by ex-Rifle Brigade Titan KR - Karima.]

 _Camera cuts to a binary in a rugged heavy-infantry chassis painted black and red; she has a T-shaped , blue-coloured light for a faceplate and a furred strip tied to the back of her boxy head. She is standing in a small firing range set up in a dusty environment._

"So - you're interested in the Alliance's guns, eh? Well, I'm here to sate your curiosity - welcome to Guns Up: Citadel Edition. I'm your host, KM-E209RR1E, but you can call me Karima. I spent sixty-two years as a Titan in the Rifle Brigade, one of the most well-known Pilot Cadres in the Alliance, but today? I'm here to show you the ins and outs of the SAAF's wide and varied arsenal. And, if we're gonna do a show about guns in the Alliance, there's only one weapon we can start with.

Now, if you go up to any civilian in the Alliance and ask them to picture a gun for you, there's only one answer you're gonna get, and that's this baby right here: the Rifle, Nine-Oh-Six, Railgun, better known as the R-906R.

This right here is the latest in a long line of rifles that date all the way back to before the Frontier Militia was even a thing. This model in particular is the current standard-issue rifle of the Systems Alliance Armed Forces - specifically, this is the R-906RA2, made by Horizon Weapons. The end result of pulling the trigger's more or less the same as the Citadel's mass effect based small-arms; both are railguns when you boil it down. The big difference is that while mass effect guns rely on heat management, we've stuck with magazines - forty rounds, in this case. Now, I know you people on the net are going to be at each other's throats about who gets more shots off faster, but hey- that's a test for another episode. Now, we adopted the R-906RA2 a while back as a replacement for the A1 model; most of it was upgrades to the internals and the onboard electronics, plus an upgraded heat dissipation system thanks to, ahem, "Precursor Composite Cerametal #5122966," also advertised as "CoolSteel XI." The engineering folks tell me it, uh, "acts as a thermal superconductor with anomalous thermal radiation properties." I'll leave the crazy weird math to the guys in R&D - all I know is it cools faster, which is a plus in my books.

Now, there's a little more to the Alliance's guns than "load mag, pull trigger," so let's get right into it. First things first: our guns are all powered by Ark technology - it's the same stuff that powers our FTL and keeps the lights on at home - via an easily replacable battery. So, step one, you gotta grab the right battery for the gun - R-906R takes the 240-type, standard version gets you about eighty to ninety-thousand shots. See this button in front of the red power switch? We hit that, front of the magwell-grip swings forward and we just plug the sucker right in. Then, we load the mag and the rifle chambers a round automatically - which we could switch to manual with this switch behind the charging handle - and now we've got to get the gun ready to fire. First I disable the manual cut-off, which means now the power's on and it only turns off if something goes wrong with the battery. Next, safety off, and we're ready to rock.

Now, I hear you all asking about the fancy switches on the side. I'm getting there! So, two things you have to keep in mind. One, since all our guns are entirely electromechanical, everything from rate-of-fire to the amount of energy put into the fire round is all customizable - technically, you could fire as fast as the rifle's power and heat management systems could let you, though quartermasters tend to get real mad about that sorta stuff. Now, this model here, as I mentioned before, was designed to be operated by regular personnel. So, the gun's got a full hardware interface for customizing and configuring settings without needing an external Personal Area Network - you can think of that as a private network built out of all the implants and gear us SAAF people carry.

So, right here, we've got a screen and physical buttons for control. While the gun comes stock with single, three-round-burst and automatic fire modes, there's no external switch to change firing power or velocity - that means if you're carrying one of these and you wanna overlock a round with more power, or underlock to suppress the firing report from hyper to supersonic, you've gotta dig through menus using these physical buttons. Over here, you can see options for on and off - off disables all the smartlink and electronic tools we use to assist us in combat. Savant and Autistic modes keep us protected from battlefield cyberwarfare attacks, and the Tag-O system disables everything except the integrated aim-assist.

Now, second thing you gotta keep in mind - with binaries like me being just as common as humans, and with a lot of SAAF soldiers having a full suite of combat implants, we've developed something we like to call Smartlink. Okay, bear with me, technically this is called "ISO 64151142.6541-12", or, if that wasn't complicated enough, you could try "160-channel 1 Gbits Digital Short-range Weapon-Personal Area Network Interface Standard Revision 12." Yeah, I like Smartlink better too. Basically, this lets us interface with our guns without having to dig through physical menus - fire mod selection, weapon status checks and whatnot. Now, the R-906RA2 does have an integrated, cyberwarfare-hardened Smartlink with a firing control unit, but compared to some of the fancier variants, this guy here's a little barebones.

So why don't we check out something that isn't barebones, eh?

This, my friends, is the Lastimosa Armory Rifle Nine-Oh-Six Railgun Carbine, Special Model 2 - or the R-906RC-SPEC2 - built to spec specifically for Special Operations use by a company that's older than the Militia and famous for their top-of-the-line guns. This model right here's got the full kit you'd see spec ops guys carry for a covert, stealth-oriented operation. Now, you might notice that there's no manual hardware interface with a screen and buttons, right? That's because all special forces operators in the Alliance are decked out, head-to-toe, with the implants and plugins required for full Smartlink control - though the gun still works without that stuff, of course. Let's start with the obvious differences: this is carbine, the Alliance word for a shortened rifle. This results in a slightly shorter engagement range than the standard rifle, and because the thermal management system and vent grills are shorter, the gun's more likely to overheat when firing at the overclock setting. To make up for it, we've got stronger rails and a beefier power supply system.

Now, most important of all? The trigger system. This sucker here is a two-stage trigger assembly with a four-position safety- safe and single shot are pretty self-explanatory, eh? But the last two fire settings are where it gets cool. On Single-Burst, the half pull fires a single shot, and a full pull fires a burst; on Burst / Auto, it's a burst at first stage and full-auto firing at full pull. There's even seperate trigger weights to make sure the operator's always got precise control over exactly how they want to fire.

This here's an integrated Smart Trigger and Sight Control System - with this hooked up to your Smartlink and the optics, you can designate targets and operating firing options with ease.

Now, the supressor. We're talking cutting-edge precursor cerametals designed by Lastimosa Armory - this is the Lastimosa Armory Type-4B suppressor; this guy eliminates the plasma flash of the railgun when it fires and muffles the firing sound - combined with sound-baffled internals and the subsonic firing mode, the SPEC2 gets as quiet as a railgun can be. Under the barrel, we've got another Lastimosa product - the TPQ-6551 Multi-Mission EMW/EMP Underbarrel EM Projection System. This here's an ElectroMagnetic Warfare system; it directs emissions that disrupt shield electronics, falsify communications, launch cyber-attacks and jam enemy sensors. Technically it works as a standalone unit, but here it's slaved to the gun's Smartlink for additional processing power and smart firing control, plus it's running off of the gun's power grid.

For sighting options? For special forces, it's only the best, eh? This, my friends, is a Sentinel Optics SO/EMR-520 Hawkeye Electronic Smartlink Sight, and on the side rail here we've got the SO/SEMR-302B Bloodhound Electronic Support Sight. Up top, the Hawkeye; if you look here, you'll notice that there's actually no visual sight to look through. That's because the sight - which has a built in Smartlink function - projects its sighting data directly into your sight via the user's augmented reality implant - because if you're operating, you have one of those. If for some reason that's not working, there is an integrated red dot up top. In and of itself, the Hawkeye's goot an integrated environment sensor suite with a built-in ballistic computer - we're talking parralx distance measurement, automatic low-light amplification, active and passive FLIR, and best of all, short-range LIDAR that busts right through Active Camouflage systems. Nnf. That's enough to make any girl break out the wallet.

But we're not done yet! The side-mounted Bloodhound is a Support Sighting Unit - it offers various detection systems built specifically for tracking targets in cluttered environments and defeating ECM and concealing equipment - passive and active spectrographics for tracking material residue traces, magnetic imaging, MRI, optical scanners, LIDAR-RADAR for ground and wall penetration scanning...and it's also a laser pointer and flashlight. Hey, you can't forget about the basics!

Last up though? I know a lot of you out there are marksmen, snipers and the like - so I've got something special saved up just for you.

Behold: the Wolf Ordnance Rifle R-906 Railgun Marksman Special Operations Sniper System Model 6.

Look at it.

You want one, don't you.

This right here's a purpose-built, high-power DMR tuned just for special forces - and us Pilots and Titans. We've got a nice, long barrel for accurate fire - so powerful that it doesn't take the standard 240 batteries, but requires the bigger and more powerful 260 APU. We've also got a nice, comfy stock - all your marksmen out there know how important comfort is - and you'll note there's no forward brace on the battery bank for easy transitions from grip to foregrip. The real kicker here, folks, is the anti-materiel fire setting. Now, this forces the gun to cool down between every shot - kinda like a lot of mass effect sniper rifles, eh? - and it does a real number on the rails, not to mention it being loud as shit. But, the AM setting combined with specialized ammunition? You hit anything short of a tank and that thing's not moving. Hit a person with that? They're paste.

How do you know this thing's built for us Pilots and Titans? Burst fire. Yes, us Pilots can handle a DMR in two and three round bursts for close quarters combat, though obviously the power isn't quite as punchy as the AM setting. You'll note it comes stock with a shorter, twenty round magazine, but it takes the forty-rounders just fine.

The sight's a Sentinel Optics SO/EOHLRSS-164 Nighthawk - medium to long range optical scope with electronic assistance systems; onboard, we've got integrated ballistic compensators, sight display, augmented reality interface for firing without aiming down the sight and more tactical data than you could ever want. Underneath the barrel, there's a Sentinel Optics SO/SEMR-220 Arjuna is a Sniper Support Sight with integrated Laser and Flashlight and additional medium-range overwatch sensors.

Okay! That's enough talking - let's get to the part I know all of you have been dying to see: firing tests.

Get ready, folks, because it's about to get loud. Guns up!"


	31. 6-4: INTERLUDE - CITADEL REACTIONS IV

As with the last post, there's some gorgeous artwork provided by Sevoris that, thanks to this site's policies, can't be linked in the story itself. Shame.

Please find the link on my profile.

* * *

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 **Topic: Cadre Profile 2: The Rifle Brigade  
In: Boards ► Military & Weaponry ► Systems Alliance  
DoubleFistin' **(Original Poster) (Verified Ex-SAAF) (Verified Ex-Pilot) (Firelink)  
Posted On Jan 25th 2158:  
Hello! It's me, Doublefistin', and I'm back with another cadre profile. I got, like, a bajillion PMs asking me to do the Rifle Brigade next; I dunno if it's because you folk on the Citadel like a good underdog story, or if you guys all started watching Titanfall 2: Typhon or something, but hey - I'm not opposed.

So! The Rifle Brigade! To really get how big a deal the Rifle Brigade was when it was formed and understand how important the cadre is to modern Alliance culture, we gotta go all the way back to its founder. Imagine:

5 Freeport. The Frontier Militia had been fighting the IMC for several years now, winning a string of victories at Freeport, Isis and Harmony. Despite minor setbacks, the IMC was still bringing in fresh colonists: they promised that anyone willing to work for the IMC as labourers would get their own home, decent pay and plenty of space to call home - things that nobody without serious money in the jam-packed Core, let alone Earth, was likely to have.

Jack Cooper's parents took the offer and relocated from Earth, their infant son in tow, to the agricultural planet of Mindoir - located on the edge of the known Frontier (at the time). They settled down and began making a living as farmers. Despite their new homestead, it pretty quickly it became obvious that things weren't as rosy as the IMC had advertised - the citizens of Mindoir were regularly harassed by the local IMC garrison and often faced harsh punishments for failing to meet food production quotas.

20 Freeport. Jack Cooper was a grown man, and while his family wasn't starving on the streets of Earth they weren't exactly living the high life - they never went hungry thanks to their farm, but as Jack Cooper recounts in his memoirs, "the local IMC troops were more than happy to drop by and deliver a beating and take our food if they could find an excuse." Frustrated with his life, he made his way offworld and signed up with the Frontier Militia. The Frontier Militia was in desperate need of frontline troops, and after a week of mostly simulated training, Jack was attached to the 1st Militia Fleet as a Rifleman, 3rd Class and thrown into combat.

25 Freeport. Despite the Militia winning victories at Demeter, Paracel and Normandy, the IMC was still more than capable of fighting off the Militia's forces. Despite his rather average marksmanship and slightly-above-average hand-to-hand combat ratings, records by his superiors do note his adaptability and ability to perform under stress, not to mention his surviving five years of near-continuous fighting, no small feat for a grunt at the time. He was eventually transferred to the 9th Militia Fleet in preparation for a new operation.

He managed to catch the eye of one of his superiors, Pilot Tai Lastimosa, who thought he saw potential in Cooper. Now, back then, there was no Pilot School and technically speaking to be trained as a Pilot you had to be selected for it. Lastimosa thought that was bunk, and began training Cooper in the sims. Operation Broadsword happened a few weeks later and the 9th Fleet attacked the IMC-held planet of Typhon; it was a disaster, with most of the Militia's forces being destroyed in the opening hours of the engagement.

(Incidentally, Cooper managed to set the fleet-wide record for the Gauntlet simulation time trial - minutes before combat dropping onto Typhon - a feat that took nearly 15 years for someone to beat.)

Pilot Lastimosa ended up dying less than an hour after the operation began, and in his last moments, he transferred control of his cutting-edge, AI-equipped Titan, BT-7274 to Cooper. Despite having no formal training, Jack Cooper donned Lastimosa's jump kit and helmet, joined forces with BT, and the two spearheaded the Militia's bounce back, ultimately leading to the planet's destruction and a Militia victory.

Let that sink in for a second.

An untrained Acting Pilot with no Pilot training beyond a week in the sims and zero experience working with a Titan managed the following:

\- Over six hundred confirmed direct combat kills against IMC regulars.

\- Over fifty confirmed Titan kills against IMC Pilots.

\- Killed five of Kuben Blisk's Apex Pilots - who were all on the Militia's high-value-assassination target list.

\- Navigated the galaxy's first confirmed temporal anomaly field.

\- Stopped the IMC from deploying their Fold superweapon, which was moments away from destroying the Militia's capital planet, Harmony.

\- BLEW UP A FUCKING PLANET! (Okay, the Fold weapon blew the planet up, but Cooper managed to escape with the help of everyone's favourite badass, BARKER! AYYYY)

Cooper's actions propelled him to Militia-wide fame; a lot of people straight up refused to believe it until they saw combat footage from his helmet cam. His Titan partner, BT, was thought to be dead after sacrificing himself to stop the Fold weapon from firing; thankfully, BT was restored from a partial backup; the close friendship the two had forged over the Typhon campaign and beyond became the stuff of legends. Cooper was instantly promoted to Pilot, and both he and BT would join the Marauder Corps and become its most skilled Pilot-Titan pair. A few years later, the pair approached the M-CORS' leaders, Pilot Sarah Briggs and her Titan partner MOB and asked to start their own cadre. To quote Titan BT: "We believe that our combat potential is being held back by our current assignment. By taking on a leadership role at the head of a new brigade, we would be best able to serve the Militia with our skillset."

Briggs was, legend has it, so surprised at the sheer audacity of the claim that she accepted, and in 30FP, the Rifle Brigade was formed.

The Rifle Brigade was, according to records, a home for some of the most skilled Pilots of the day, and routinely found themselves in situations where they faced ridiculous odds with no support - and yet, every time, the Rifle Brigade would come out on top with Cooper and BT right at the front. Whether it was taking on planetary garrisons without fleet backup, rescuing High Command officials from kidnapping, or ambushing entire fleets, the Rifle Brigade routinely did the impossible. The brigade was also a proponent of using as much AI technology as they could get their hands on. Pilot Cooper even made an impassioned defense of AIs and their growing place in the Militia's tactical infrastructure; when prototype strategy / tactical planning AIs were being tested in 40FP, Pilot Cooper and BT made an hour-long speech in the Militia Commons begging detractors and critics to give the program a chance.

Cooper and BT quickly became the face for both the brigade and the growing pro-AI movement in the Militia, too. Both were strong supporters of making Pilot status more accessible, and in 70FP they and the Marauder Corps proposed the formation of Pilot School; Cooper and BT helped design many of the exercises and training regiments that form the core of today's Pilot / Titan training.

Sadly, during the Fold Wars, the Rifle Brigade was tasked with destroying an IMC installation on Earth which housed no less than eight Fold weapons; the installation was destroyed, but of the one-hundred Pilots and Titans that set out on the mission, only six returned - and neither Cooper or BT were amongst the survivors. Unwilling to let the near-destruction of the brigade to stop them, the remaining three Pilots and Titans picked up Cooper and BT's torch; led by Sinagtala Lastimosa, daughter-in-law of Tai Lastimosa, the brigade would go on to rebuild and become the Rifle Brigade cadre that exists to this day.

I can't overstate how important it was that a cadre can trace its lineage back to a lowly Militia Rifleman, guys. Before the Rifle Brigade, every Militia grunt wanted to be a Pilot, but it was a pipe dream, the thing you'd joke about with your buddies. It was the thing that Frontier kids pretended to be, not something normal people became. But Cooper? Cooper was a ground-pounding, bottom-of-the-list grunt who excelled under stress and became a mythic figure - because if a Rifleman Third Class could become a badass Pilot, that meant anyone else could do it too.

And BT? An even bigger deal. BT was one of the very first true AIs the Alliance made - and his publicly recorded evolution played a huge role in the normalized role of binaries today. You can literally go and watch BT develop from an advanced program into the predecessor of the modern binary - a being with emotions, wants, needs, desires, dreams.

The modern Rifle Brigade is the second-largest cadre, smaller only than the Marauder Corps, and maintains close ties with the SAAF's Ground Warfare branch. The cadre today maintains a recruit-mentor structure; new additions to the cadre are paired with veteran members who are charged with ensuring proper training, etiquette and so on. Like Barker's Bastards, decisions among the cadre are democratic, although an undisclosed number of veteran members are elected to a sort of senior position whose decisions reputedly carry more weight.

The cadre is also known for being far less secretive than most; they release numbers for their cadre's ranks, are on the public roster, and its members are a common sight at inter-service events. They also allow their members to maintain sanitized public journal sites - Titan EK, Ericsson, has one called "Stomping Around" that's quite popular. Honestly, the Rifle Brigade has a reputation as being full of friendly people and, at least in my experience, nobody has trouble getting along with them; they're beloved by SAAF regulars thanks to their origins and their unusually open culture.

Anyways, that's all for today - as usual, feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer'em! I know there's a bunch of other Pilots and Titans lurking around nowadays, so they might also pop in and answer, too.

* * *

 **Topic: Cerberus Attack on Harmony Megathread** **[THREAD LOCKED DUE TO AGE; DO NOT BUMP WITHOUT MOD PERMISSION]** **  
In: Boards ► Discussions & Debates ► Current Events ► Systems Alliance  
InkwellPalaven **(Original Poster) (Verified PHD (History)) (Ascent!)  
Posted On Nov 22nd 2157:  
Hi there everyone, Inkwell here. I've been reading the news about that big terrorist attack on the Alliance homeworld, Harmony, and since I had a ton of questions I figured I'd place all of my findings / analysis here so we can discuss them in one place. For those not in the know I'm a professor of military history at Cipritine University; I take my work seriously and I ask that if you're contributing to this thread that you take the time to source your information.

So the big question everyone seems to be having is what exactly Cerberus is. The Alliance's Nexuspedia article states that "Cerberus is a well-known terror organization which has, despite not having an obvious end goal or guiding ideology, continually attacked the Systems Alliance since 125FP."

Anyways a timeline of events can be found here, and fellow user Parallxing - a colleague of mine - has compiled a list of links to the best available sources of vid footage here. I'll jump right into my analysis:

\- What stood out to me the most was the civilian reaction to the attack. Sure, we've got no shortage of bunkers on Palaven and military training is mandatory for us turians, but I guarantee you that if a terrorist attack on the scale of what happened to Harmony ocurred today on Palaven the average civilian would be a lot less composed. Eyewitness reports and firsthand footage show that as soon as the city-wide siren rang, most people acted calmly and as though this was routine.

\- In the same vein, the fact that there was are multiple warning sirens installed in the city of Militia for different intesnity attacks - in this case, according to my research, the warning was for a "Class Grey Terror Incidient" in and of itself speaks volumes.

\- As noted above, the sheer number of bunkers and fortified positions in Militia city is staggering; according to public record, the city was designed so that, standing from anywhere within city limits, you're never more than a half-hour march to a bunker of some sort. Each bunker has enough food to feed the block's humans for upwards of two years at a minimum, plus one of their crazy Ark reactors to provide charging for binaries and power for the bunker itself. Also, the smallest bunker I could find based on eyewitness testimony - one that was apparently overdue for an upgrade - contained an armory full of small-arms, anti-vehicle munitions and other assorted heavy weaponry.

All of this speaks to several things: a society that is constantly preparing for external threats even if there's no expectation that they'll actually encounter said threats; a society that maintains a massive military-industrial complex (more on this later) and most of all a society where everyone, to some extent, is comfortable with military action. There's obvious parallels to turian military culture, but here it's taken to another level; I'd hazard that the nation's origins as a rebellion has left the Alliance's peoples, on some basic cultural level, primed for conflict.

\- Moving on to the attack itself: spirits, there's a lot to unpack here. I'm not an engineer, nor am I a master tactician or strategist but the implications of being able to perform short-range "jumps" to bypass system scans and orbital defenses is staggering. I'm aware the most of the footage from the attack on Harmony deals with combat between special forces units, but the fact that Alliance Pilots are fully capable of fighting while manoeuvring at 150+ km/h is ridiculous. I forsee that the Turian Army's Armiger Legion is going to be hard at work soon to achieve parity.

\- Despite working from a different technological base than the Citadel races, most of the small-arms possessed by both Cerberus and Alliance forces seem to be similar in purpose if not in design; just from the videos I've watched, the real difference seems to be in exotic and heavy weaponry. I've noticed cloaking technology that appears to render users more or less entirely invisible to the naked eye for long periods of time, short range teleportation of some sort, some sort of gravity-manipulating projectile not unlike a biotic singularity, and even an equivalent to an inferno-pattern projectile.

Anyways this is all I've come up with in the past few hours; please feel free to contribute.

 **(Showing page 1 of 1)**

 **►Ryncolgoggles** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
Dude, how the fuck are you being some calm about this? I'm sorry, I know you like to pride yourself on providing well-sourced commentary but let's take a step back for a second. A large-scale terrorist attack just ocurred on the Alliance homeworld, taking planetary defense entirely by surprise, and the only real reaction by the locals is to shrug, dig in and prepare for a fight?

Look at the Alliance's history - there's lot of attacks by mercenaries and pirates, sure, but nothing that would prepare, say, the average Citadel citizen to finish their dinner and prepare for combat.

And the ROBOTS? You didn't even mention the thirty-feet tall WAR ROBOTS that have autocannons, laser guns and can apparently turn invisible or teleport?

Look, I grew up on Tuchanka, man. I get fighting. But Harmony's not a desert death-world populated by assholes and hungry predators, and no matter my thoughts on turian military preparedness you have to admit this is in a league all of its own.

 **►InkwellPalaven** (Original Poster) (Verified PHD (History)) (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
Believe me, Ryncol, I'm not taking this as calmly as you think I am. I get the feeling that militaries galaxy-wide are more than a little concerned by all of this, and despite the Alliance no doubt lacking several key technologies that we use I'm sure groups like the Turian Army are watching this with more than a little trepidtation.

Regarding the use of Titans, I'm really not sure how to feel about that. At least as far as turian military convention goes, there's really nothing you can do with large powered armour that can't be done cheaper and more efficiently with a vehicle of some sort. Maybe the whole AI thing adds a layer that us Citadel folks can't quite grasp? Still, I will admit that I'm not going to volunteer to fight a Titan while on fight and I pity anyone who ends up having to.

The military readiness of the average civilian is more odd than frightening to me. It makes me wonder why it is the way it is.

 **►Dawn Of Socket** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
You can't be that surprised, guys. We're talking about a species - the humans, anyways, spirits know what they programmed the robots with - that fought eight planet-scale wars, rebelled against their government because they didn't like paying taxes, then blew up their own homeworld. Their actual one, not the one they've just decided to call their home. Violence is in their blood - and it's not even for a good reason. The krogan have a good evolutionary reason to be capable of combat - Tuchanka's really not a nice place. But all the records on Earth? It was fine! The humans were more or less in control of their planet from an early age and their instinct is to go and shoot at each other.

Anyyways, other than the jetpacks I don't think the Alliance is as crazy as people are making it out to be. Sure, their ship teleporation is a bit creepy, but it's nothing a souped-up orbital perimeter can handle. And sure, Pilots have their giant robot suits and the ability to teleport, like, two feet, but none of this applies to their regular military. Just because something's new that doesn't mean we have to be afraid of it, yeesh.

 **►RannochDreamer** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
Gotta agree with you, Dawn. Personally I'm more than a little suspicious of the whole attack. You're telling me this terrorist group - which has existed for more than three hundred years - managed to move a small attack fleet into position AND get a bunch of troops planetside without a SINGLE person noticing?

Oh, and what about their robots? All their ability to think fast and compute large amounts of data? All that amounted to nothing?

Suuuuure. I guarantee you this was a false-flag meant to act as a show of force. I'll put money on it.

 **►InkwellPalaven** (Original Poster) (Verified PHD (History)) (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
Dawn, while I won't go so far as to say I agree with everything you've said, I do think you raise an interesting point about their technology with respect to SAAF regulars. Given their roots as a colonial rebellion, I wonder if the mass training of civilians is less of an attempt to craft a fighting force and more an ingrained tradition of needing as many bodies as possible to fight off a superior force?

Rannoch, I dunno. I think it's a bit early to jump on the false flag train, although I will admit the idea did cross my mind.

 **►Stardrive** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
Personally I'm really interested in their Titan deployment tactics - it looks like they're using that weird teleportation tech that they have on their ships and as an infantry combat tool to teleport the Titan robots right onto the field? That's got some interesting applications - can you imagine not even needing to worry about finding dropped supplies or defending drop zones? You could just, you know, teleport stuff to wherever you need it!

Also I'm with Ryncol on this - there's gotta be a missing bit of information as to why everyone's so okay with, you know, massive terror attacks on their home. Like, according to a bunch of bloggers and reporters most people seemed more annoyed than afraid - there were even kids helping to load guns and stuff, apparently. That's fucking messed up.

 **►Selector Ten** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
I dunno if I'd go so far as to say this is a flase flag but I wouldn't be surprised if, say, they knew this attack was coming. I know their security was on high alert but doesn't anyone else find it weird that they rolled out their special forces so fast? And, what, they had those Titan robots just waiting to be teleported into combat?

Something isn't right.

 **►Scales23** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Nov 22nd 2157:  
Come on, really? We're going full tinsuit conspiracy theory already?

Also, guys. Alliance SF has fucking 150 km/h jetpacks. Think about that. No, really think about that. The jetpacks are crazy, sure, but what's getting me is that Pilots can apparently fight as if nothing's wrong while being upside down and flying through the air.

Even crazier: go watch the sixth vid up in the compilation post Parallaxing did - at 13:22 there's clear footage of a Cerberus Pilot getting his arm blown off, and he just keeps going like nothing's wrong. I know we have painkillers and stuff but not even flinching? What sort of mental conditioning do you have to do to not even notice losing a limb?

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	32. 6-4: CODEX III

BINARY FASHION

Binary fashion has come a long way from the utilitarian combat styling of the Frontier Militia era; today, it is commonly accepted that there are three distinct types of binary fashion, each with their own lineage and attached connotations. According to definitions agreed upon during the Synthetic Integration Conference of 220FP, the styles are as follows : the organic style, the mechanical style, and the utility style. Organic styled binaries are those whose base chassis closely mimics that of a natural human; these chassis either seek to pass as human, with synthetic skin, hair and 1:1 musculature, or emulate a human style with distinct synthetic markings such as obvious seam lines or exposed mechanical parts. Mechanical styling maintains a human figure, but rather than attempt to pass as human, mechanical binaries have a human-styled chassis with an obvious metal body, metallic hairpieces, and composite flexi-metals which allow for a full range of emotional expression with metallic facial features. Lastly, the utility style draws a direct line of influence from the more simplistic, rugged style of previous centuries.

Organic styling is more or less the same as fashion aimed at humans; materials technology has advanced to the point where upkeep for synthetic skin and artificial musculature are widely available at low cost. As such, most fashion designers now market their clothing to both humans and organic-styled binaries; for binaries who do not wish to pass as human, customization options are varied, ranging from transparent limbs with visible mechanical parts, to patterns of seam-lines and placements of decorative lights or holoprojectors. The self-reporting section of the 450FP Alliance census shows that organic styling remains relatively uncommon for binaries; of the over ninety-nine percent of citizens who filled in the optional section regarding chassis type, only eight percent stated that they wore an organic styled chassis. Public opinion amongst binaries retains a fair degree of stigma with respect to passing as a human - while organic styling with obvious binary elements is often seen as an odd, if slightly tacky choice of chassis, binaries who pass as human are often assumed to be ashamed of their culture in some way and looked down upon for their lack of "binary pride."

The mechanical style is a varied one, ranging from the "metallic human" aesthetic to humanoid chassis designs which are distinctly inhuman. Most mechanically-styled binaries are capable of wearing clothing and most do wear some form of covering; according to the aforementioned census of 450FP, sixty-seven percent stated that they inhabited a mechanical chassis, with a roughly ninety-ten split between those occupying a classically "metal-human" styled chassis, and those wearing an "exotic" styled chassis. The "metallic human" aesthetic is a well-developed one which offers a wide range of customization options; at a base level, binaries can choose their height and chassis build, and from there can customize their base chassis with modular addons. These can be anything as simple as solid metallic hairpieces or even bundles of wire and cable "hair," all the way to custom-textured materials for a different "skin" feel than regular metal. "Exotic" mechanical binaries, on the other hand, often eschew flexi-metal one-piece faces and human body layout for distinctly non-human designs; these can range from multi-layer mechanical faces, reverse-jointed arms and legs, extra limbs and other non-humanoid features. As noted above, the majority of Alliance binaries wear a mechanical-style chassis; choosing an exotic chassis over a standard humanoid one is not uncommon or stigmatized, but will often draw looks or elicit reactions - which, while sometimes the intended goal, is just as often to result an annoyed binary wishing to be left alone or treated normally.

The utility style is worn by roughly a quarter of Alliance binaries, and is most commonly seen in the SAAF, which maintains a policy of mandatory utility chassis use for all combat personnel. Placing function over form, the utility style most closely resembles the construction and combat chassis which date back to the Frontier Militia era; rugged, "naked," clearly-"robotic" chassis with module sockets, square, boxy heads and simple metal limbs are all but guaranteed with the style. Individual customization is primarily achieved via custom face-lights and a combination of painted artwork and intricate etchings or carvings on the chassis itself. The SAAF, much in the same way that it has a list of regulation haircuts for humans and organic style binaries, has a list of allowed face-light configurations; most soldiers stick with a single vertical or horizontal light. Combat binaries are also allowed to choose from a list of head-mounted decorations such as ribbons and tags; the most popular by a wide margin is the "fur tail," a ponytail-like strip of fur mounted at the back of the head unit not unlike a ponytail. The fur tail traces its routes all the way back to the pre-Militia era, where it was popular with frontier folk and farmers, and is often seen on active and retired soldiers alike. (Civilian binaries and humans are technically allowed to wear a fur tail, but doing so is generally discouraged and strongly looked down upon by SAAF regulars - more than a few bar fights have erupted over the issue.)

Civilian binaries who wear a utility-styled rig are free to be more creative with their face-lights, and it is not uncommon to see complex designs which cover the entire head unit and integrate holo-projectors, context-based lighting, and even hover units; fashion trends today mean that it is common to see utility binaries in cities Alliance-wide with chassis modules that integrate hundreds of intricate custom functions and are richly decorated with built-in hats, ribbons, headscarves, hoods and even full-body cloaks.


	33. ARC 7 - SIN: THE PRECIPICE

**ARC VII: SIN  
CHAPTER ONE: THE PRECIPICE  
January 27th  
463 Freeport**

"Alright, we're in position. _Lightspear,_ please transmit IFF for verification."

"Copy, _Demeter._ Sending IFF."

Helmsman Goldstein looked at the geth platform standing in the cockpit and flashed his lights.

"Helmsman GS, IFF code received. It matches our own."

" _Lightspear_ , Legion says you're all clear."

"Understood. Ready to synchronize jumps; we'll activate the mass relay when you prepare your jump."

"Copy. Sync signal sent."

"Received."

"Copy. Activating IFF, Ark Engine at maximum capacity, signals green. All crew, be advised, FTL drops in ten seconds. Stand by. Five, four, three two, one, mark."

The familiar black rip in space tore open in front of the _Demeter_ and sucked the ship through; a fraction of a second later, the _Lightspear_ activated the mass relay and shot into the darkness, leaving a blue streak behind. Both ships exited within seconds of each other, laying eyes on the Tikun system; a massive debris field lay directly ahead of both ships.

" _Demeter_ , this is _Lightspear,_ we're all clear - are you seeing this? Looks like a debris field of some sort - I think I see bits of ships in there?"

"Hells. _Lightspear_ , this is _Demeter_ , we're clear as well and we see the field," Goldstein replied.

"Those are geth ships," Legion said both aloud and over comms to the _Lightspear_. "Based on incomplete visual data, this platform estimates a minimum of twenty and a maximum of seventy geth frigate-equivalent ships destroyed."

"How recent?" Captain ED asked.

"Little to no wreckage is moving; it would appear that the debris field is primarily composed of material that is stable. Moving material has left the field. Based on debris patterns, combat damage and other factors, we estimate that these ships were destroyed approximately two weeks ago."

"Damn. That'd be right around the time the non-heretic geth sent their emergency message, right?" Valtha replied.

"That is correct. Our consensus: it is likely that these ships were attempting to utilize the mass relay to leave the system."

"Goldstein, scans. Legion, shouldn't there be geth ships or stations in the area?"

"The lack of ships so far does not fall within normal parameters," Legion replied. "We are unsure as to why. There are - were also no less than six hundred installations, primarily manufacturing ships and housing stations in the system."

"Fantastic," Miranda grumbled.

"Prelim scans are complete - major geth readings from Rannoch and Haza, minor signals from Adas, but otherwise the system is empty. First proper scans are active and will be complete in two minutes.

Legion's faceplates fanned open and ED swore it sounded as though Legion was as close as it could get to panicking. "This is irregular. Geth platforms existed in reasonable numbers on all planets in the system. Furthermore, the majority of geth existed on space stations scattered throughout the system, dedicated to resource extraction or construction. The _Lightspear_ and _Demeter_ should already have been noticed and either fired upon or scanned for further investigation."

"You'll forgive me for taking no ships over being shot at," Goldstein said.

"Conflict is undesirable. That does not mean a situation which fails to adhere to any logical parameters is acceptable," Legion noted.

"Well, now what? Ma'am?" Goldstein asked.

"We investigate," ED replied. "Legion, you mentioned that the geth maintained a reasonable presence planetside - on Rannoch, in particular. If we were to move in to assess the situation, and assuming we don't run into heretic geth who attack on sight, what are the chances we'd be fired upon by, say, orbital defense platforms or anti-orbital guns?"

"Under normal circumstances, roughly eighty percent of geth live on ships or stations in space. Approximately twenty percent of existing geth under regular circumstances would be on Rannoch maintaining and repairing the planet's ecosystem, with an insignificant amount on the other planets within this system. Regarding orbital defenses, the IFF this unit has provided will, assuming standard programming is followed, ensure that neither ship will be fired upon some manner of investigation."

"Alright, _Lightspear_ , the _Demeter_ will take point - we've got systems that'll allow us to remain undetected for longer than most ships, as well as long-range FTL; make sure you've got a clear shot to the relay in case things go hot."

" _Demeter_ , this is _Lightspear,_ understood. Following your lead."

Both ships began to make their way towards Rannoch at a slower pace than either ship's pilots would have liked; massive debris fields littered the approach vectors, and once they arrived by the planet Captain ED could only stare in shock.

Rannoch was on fire.

The planet's natural blue, brown and green were almost all gone; in its place was firey red and terrible scars so wide and black they were visible from orbit. Orbital defense stations lay scattered around the planet, half-destroyed and floating aimlessly around Rannoch.

"Rannoch."

"Legion?" Miranda turned to face Legion. "What - what happened?"

"Rannoch. It burns." Legion simply walked closer to the cockpit windows. "The geth. Consensus was reached. Rannoch would be maintained. Consensus was achieved. Restore Rannoch, whether in hope of the return of the creators by peace, or simply in honour of those who made us. Consensus."

"Legion, I know this must be hard to watch," Captain ED said in as soothing a voice as she could manage.

"This unit is concerned. Two-hundred-sixty-three years of work, undone. Did the unknown operator, Nazara, convince the heretics that previous consensus was incorrect? Illegitimate?"

"There's only one way to find out," ED replied.

"Yes. This unit is in agreement. Consensus has been achieved. Information must be gathered."

Goldstein nodded at ED, and tapped a few buttons on his console. " _Lightspear_ , we're going to attempt to see if we can't make sense of the situation planetside. If you'd like to help scan, feel free."

"Roger," Valtha said over comms.

The next minute passed in tense silence; it was Samantha Traynor in the comms station who broke the silence. "Captain, I've got signals. One of the emergency channels Legion mentioned; it's low-emission and heavily encrypted. Applying Legion's decryption packet, stand by for broadcast."

 _Geth who respect consensus: retreat. The worshippers of Nazara have left the system but there is a chance they will return. Survivors of the Purity Crusade, retreat. Consensus amongst those on Rannoch: we will rebuild and fight, even though chances of annihilation should the heretics return is all but guaranteed. True geth who value continued survival, flee. True geth who have achieved consensus and value resistance, fight. This message repeats.  
_  
"We need to know more," Miranda said quietly.

"Legion, the signal will take a while to trace - do you know where these non-heretics would likely be hiding?" ED asked.

"The capital; Rannos, in Khelish. Forgotten Home, in geth parlance."

" _Lightspear,_ did you get all that?" Goldstein said, his tone flat.

"Goddess...we did. You're more than welcome to take point."

"Understood," Captain ED said. "Take us down on my signal."

* * *

"Oh," Itok said slowly. "Oh no. That's...fuck. Shit, guys, Raetor, is he gonna be-"

The CIC erupted into crashing as Raetor began throwing things from tables and slamming his head into walls and kicking the floor, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Fuck! Fucking, fuck, shit, shit, shit-"

"GUYS!" Larix shouted, getting up from his gunnery control seat. "Raetor! Raetor, man, it's gonna be okay- fuck!"

Larix dodged out of the way as Raetor swept a pile of dataslates off the man holo, nearly hitting Larix. Itok was the first into the room, and he ran up to Raetor, voice pleading.

"Raetor! Fuck, man, calm down, cal-"

"Fuck you, Itok," Raetor shouted, grabbing Itok and shoving him into a bulkhead. "Calm down? You little, fucking, you think this is a fucking joke? That is my HOME. WORLD. How in the flying fuck would YOU react if Sur'Kesh was burning and your entire fucking race was kicked off your own fucking BIRTHPLACE? My ancestors were nearly wiped out and we've been living on fucking SHIPS for the last three centuries. I have never felt sun on my skin or breathed real air. I have never eaten the food everyone else does and I can count the hours I haven't worn this suit on ONE. FUCKING. HAND. People everywhere called me and my family suit-rats and it's all because of this, and I come home, the one last thing all of us quarians and my mom and my sister and everyone dreams of and it's on FIRE! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE MAKE LIGHT OF THIS!"

"Raetor, stop before I make you stop," Nihlus said as he entered the CIC from the cockpit, his voice stern but soft. "You have every right to be pissed as fuck. That's okay. Attacking Itok for being a piece of shit, also okay. But you need to stop, take a look at yourself and ask if you really want to do that." Raetor paused, realizing he was seconds away from kicking Itok in the head; he made an incoherent cry and took several steps backwards.

"Okay. That's a start. Itok, apologize, right fucking now."

"I'm sorry, Raetor," Itok mumbled, easing himself into a sitting position. "I- please, forgive me," he said, shaking his head. "I...I didn't...I'm sorry."

Raetor howled and cried and sobbed, sinking to the floor. " _Keelah se'lai!_ By the homeworld I hope to see one day! Fuck. This - this isn't - no. Why? Why? What did we do to deserve this?"

"Hey, hey, look at me," Nihlus said, walking over to Raetor. "Come on, look at me. Listen. I know this is a shitty situation but you've got to keep it together. Think about it. If someone did this to Rannoch you need to be at your best so we can all figure out who did it, why, and how to reverse it. You can do this, Raetor - I know you can. I promised, remember?"

There was a long calm, with only the ship humming and Raetor's sobs. Nihlus and Ultina helped Raetor to his feet and helped him into a nearby seat, where Raetor simply wept for several minutes before slowly stopping. He suddenly got up, stormed over to Itok and extended a hand.

"I'm sorry for hitting you," he said calmly.

"I'm sorry for being an insensitive piece of shit."

"Raetor? Listen, it's okay to be upset," Ultina said slowly. "You don't have to hold it in."

"I am upset. I am so fucking angry right now, you have no idea. I am two seconds away from grabbing my shotgun, finding whoever did this and ramming it right into their ass and making a fucking blowhole in their skull. But I get it. Right - right now," Raetor replied through gritted teeth, "we have a job to do. And if it helps me find out who did this, I'll be bringing better than my best." He sighed, clenched and unclenched his hands several times, then shook his head. "Come on. Let's go figure out what the fuck is going on."

"Rae-"

"Nihlus, I'll be alright - at least for now. I promise."

Nihlus stared at Raetor. "Alright. But if I let you off this ship, you need to be cool. Got it?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Good. Valtha?"

"Uh, we good back there?" Valtha shouted back from the cockpit.

"We're good. Right, Raetor?"

"Yeah."

"We're good."

" _Demeter_ just pinged, we're headed planetside - destination, capital city of Rannos."

Raetor joined the rest of the crew - sans Larix, who returned to gunnery control in the CIC - and they watched as Valtha eased the ship towards Rannoch's surface, following the _Demeter_ as it weaved past the thick layers of destroyed orbital platforms and assorted debris which crowded the space around Rannoch.

"Entering atmo, stand by...clear." Raetor let out an audible wail as the ship broke cloud cover: the planet's surface was not all fire and destruction. Patches of green, untouched by the massive gashes which cut through the ground below, stood out amongst the carnage, and massive oceans and rivers flowed through the land itself. Rannos, too, was a disaster - smoking craters and destroyed fields - but here and there, monuments and towers were clearly visible, and battle-scarred buildings dotted the landscape. There were even pedestrian walkways and aircar lanes, mostly destroyed but still recognizable.

"They...they kept it? The geth, they...why did they...I don't understand," Raetor mumbled.

"Fuck, you mean there were good geth?" Itok said, shaking his head. "Who the fuck is this Nazara, and when do we get to kill him?"

"Patience," Nihlus growled. "Trust me, we're going find the bastard and give him a proper lesson in pain." His stomach clenched at sight of the ruined city; he couldn't imagine how furious he'd be if something like this had happened to Palaven, and in the back of his mind he could see his family and friends running through the streets of Rannos as it burned.

" _Demeter_ 's set down at what looks like spaceport of some sort - engaging landing gear and standing by for touchdown."

Both ships landed, spaced not far apart on landing pads, and the crew made their way down to the hangar, re-checked their gear and watched as Ultina lowered the rear hatch; the pad stood just at the end of the ramp.

Raetor holstered his shotgun and took slow, careful steps down the ramp. Once at the bottom, he simply fell to his knees, shaking his head.

"Home," he said, voice at once overjoyed and proud, filled with sorrow and grief. "I'm home at last. Keelah se'lai! Mother, father, little Jaha, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!"

* * *

"Pilot, your gear's ready. KN, your chassis is warmed up and preloaded with your weapon rig - transfer when ready," Cortez said, unsealing the cradle which housed KN's Titan chassis. Nodding, KN walked over and plugged himself into the infantry-carrier built into the underside of the Titan chassis, and moments later the Titan lit up, and KN's voice came from the Vanguard chassis' external speakers.

"Alright, ready to roll," KN said, flexing his massive limbs and stepping out of the cradle. Jane smirked and walked over to her locker, pulled out the gun rack and grabbed her gear as her HUD lit up.

 _Mastiff-P -IS Bullpup Autoshotgun w/ Adjustable Choke, Dual Magazines. Shells: Arc (Nonlethal), Shard (Lethal), HEAP (AP Lethal). Excelsior E4 PDW-R. _Smart Pistol -R Semi-Automatic Rail Handgun w/ Smart Targeting. Arc Grenades. Electronic Countermeasure Explosives. Gravity Stars. Vortex Shield (Infantry) Online. Gravity Stars loaded.__

Stuffing her rig full of shell-speedloaders and magazines for her PDW, Jane slammed the rack back into the locker, unclipped her helmet and put it on before turning back to face the assembled combat teams lined up in the hangar. "CT, listen up!" Jane shouted. "We're on foreign soil and in a potentially hostile environment. Keep your guns ready, but under no circumstances are we shooting first - clear?"

"Yes, Pilot!"

"Alright, listen up! Squad one and two, you're staying here to defend the ships. If anything happens and we need a hot exfil, you people are going to be our line of defense. Squad three, four, fan out, secure the spaceport we docked at and begin fortifying. Spectre Kryik's team, KN, Legion and I are on scouting duty - if we find anything you all need to be prepared. Think before shooting, keep your comms open and your heads on a swivel. KN?"

KN, installed in his Vanguard chassis, looked down and gave a thumbs up. "All good. Ready?" He knelt down and popped open his cockpit; Jane sealed her helmet's faceplates, jumped up into the air, boosted backwards straight into the cockpit and let the warm feeling of synchro flow into her mind. Cockpit still open, Jane and KN marched out of the _Demeter_ and down the belly ramp and onto Rannoch's ground with Legion not far behind. The soldiers from squads one and two fanned out behind Jane and KN, portable dome shields online and placed for maximum coverage; one squad remained with the _Demeter_ while the other took up positions around the _Lightspear_. Squads three and four followed KN as he stomped down the landing pad ramp and met up with Nihlus' squad.

"Nihlus," KN said, kneeling down so that his cockpit was closer to the ground. "You guys alright? Raetor?"

"I'm okay," the quarian said, shaking his head. "Okay as I can be, considering."

"You're a tougher man than I," KN said, his voice sombre.

"We must offer our apologies," Legion said, walking over to Raetor and dimming its lights. "We anticipated showing one of the creators Rannoch, restored to its former glory. The current situation was not anticipated - we had no intention of showing you...this, Raetor'Taame-Creator."

"It's...I mean it's not okay, but you don't need to apologize, Legion," Raetor replied. "If what you're saying is true, this is squarely on the heretics."

"Yes."

"Well...let's go find those true geth and see what's going on."

"We agree," Legion said, faceplate flexing slightly.

"Legion," Jane said from inside KN, "you got any signal leads?"

"Affirmative. This unit has tracked the primary signal to a communications tower in the centre of town. In the absence of other leads we believe searching the surrounding area to be the best course of action."

"Makes sense. I'd rather not wander around here without a clue as to where I'm going," Nihlus agreed. "Also...wow, KN. You're huge. I mean, I met Jessie on Harmony and I know she's technically bigger but...I think I'm just used to you being, you know, normal sized."

"And you're small. Honestly, the view from up here's a lot better. Squad three, four, secure the spaceport - we'll head out the back of the spaceport and into the city proper."

"Copy," Vadim said. "Come on, let's move!"

"Alright, Nihlus, how do you wanna do this?" Jane asked.

"Personally I'm more than happy to have the twenty-five foot tall mountain of guns take point," Nihlus noted.

"Fair enough. Legion, do you see the small platform on my back that's marked with a white line?" KN asked.

"Yes," Legion replied.

"Okay, you should be able to jump on there - there's a tiny protrusion you can hang onto, so you can ride the chassis and if we go hot I'll make sure you're safe."

"Understood." Legion clambered onto the back of KN's chassis, and once Jane shut the cockpit hatch the group set out at marching pace into the city of Rannos proper. The spaceport's rear exit led down and into a wide boulevard lined with trees, many of which were burnt and dead; only few of the buildings which flanked the roads were intact. Jane looked through one of her side-cams and noticed a building that had been partially blown open; from what she could see of the interior, it looked as thought there was a bed, several storage units and even a living room of some sort.

"Legion? Is that an...apartment building?"

"Correct. Supporters of reconstruction on Rannoch were primarily divided between two groups. One: rebuild habitation units and other building to prepare for the peaceful return of the creators. Two: reconstruct pre-war Rannoch in memory of the creators. Both had the same goal; consensus was achieved and reconstruction efforts were progressing smoothly until the recent conflict."

"Damn," Jane said, shaking her head. "That's fucked."

The group continued their march towards the communications tower, which was visible in the distance. Once in a while the someone in the group would make a call out to something suspicious, but none of KN's scans or the group's investigations revealed anybody in the area besides them. Far worse than the tension were the occasional piles of dead geth platforms littering the streets; a few appeared to have been defending themselves, their still platforms clutching sleek, silver-chrome geth rifles, but most were unarmed.

It took nearly half an hour on foot to reach the communications tower - a silver and purple obelisk-shaped device which was surrounded by fences and housing a small security-maintenance station next door.

"Keep out. Authorized persons only," Raetor said, reading a sign posted on the fence as the group marched through the gate.

"Geth reconstruction efforts aimed for authenticity in all things," Legion noted. It dismounted and walked over to the tower, and his faceplate lit up as he interfaced with it; he turned around stiffly a moment later and pointed at a subway station they'd passed not too long ago.

"Underground," Legion said. "The true geth are hiding underground."

KN parked his chassis next to an empty parking lot, transferred to his infantry chassis and slid out from the belly of the Titan while Jane disembarked; Nihlus could only watch in amazed amusement as the Titan chassis flickered several times, then became entirely invisible, the only signs that it was there being a nearby planter that KN had nudged with his Titan chassis' foot as he'd knelt down. The group made their way over to the subway entrance; Legion took point, and they descended the stairs. They'd just cleared the stairwell and entered the unlit station when dozens of emergency hatches sealed the stairwell, and the station lit up with dim, blue lights.

Jane raised her hands slowly as several geth uncloaked all throughout the station, weapons aimed at the group. One geth platform, slightly taller than the rest and bearing several bullet holes and scorch marks on its red body, stepped forward, face-light flashing; Legion responded with a burst of chittering static.

"You are the platform designated Legion," the red geth stated aloud, weapon still raised.

"Correct."

"We speak in organic terms to ensure understanding amongst your companions."

"We are grateful."

"This unit cannot achieve consensus regarding your purpose. Data indicates your purpose is observation on the Citadel, yet your platform is on Rannoch and there are unknowns with you."

"We received a message from both the heretics and the true geth. Unable to ascertain the truth of the matter, this platform sought the assistance of the Systems Alliance to clarify matters and attempt to secure assistance for true geth, if their claims of violence were true." Legion paused and its face-light flickered. "We have seen the situation. All evidence points to the true geth's claims being correct."

The red geth remained still for several seconds before lowering its weapons. "Two Alliance soldiers, one synthetic. Five soldiers of Citadel origin. Explain."

"Spectre Nihlus Kryik, and this is my team," Nihlus said, still keeping his arms raised. "Once Legion explained the situation to both the Citadel Council and the Alliance, it was decided that a civil conflict between geth had to be verified. We're here to gather information." The red geth nodded, then looked at Jane and KN.

"More or less the same," KN stated. "The Alliance did offer amnesty to the geth, and while we aren't here to provide combat support we are here to assess the situation."

The red geth holstered its rifle on its back, and bobbed its head. "This is acceptable. We presume Legion-Platform led you here?"

"Correct," Legion responded. "Following our entry into the Tikkun system, we investigated Rannoch and heard your warning transmission, and tracked it here."

"This is unexpected. We are grateful to have allies, even if only here to gather information. Come. This unit will lead you to one of our camps. We will confer with group consensus and Prime."

"Prime? Who's that?" Jane asked.

"It is difficult to explain. It will be easiest to show you directly." The red geth turned and began to walk further into the station; the other geth who were guarding the entrance cloaked again. Following the red geth, they walked down onto the main subway platform, jumped down to the tracks and walked through a maintenance hatch. "This way," the red geth noted. "The Rannos transportation network contains a comprehensive network of maintenance tunnels, connected by low-power rail." Red, as Jane had taken to calling the platform, in her head, ushered them down into the dimly-lit tunnel and onto a small wall-mounted tram; the group got on, and Red activated the machine. They rode in silence for nearly ten minutes; Jane's map showed them as being, oddly enough, not that far from the spaceport they'd landed at. The tram stopped, and Red got off before leading them to another access hatch. Red interfaced with the door controls, and the hatch hissed open to reveal a long corridor lined with automated turrets; they followed Red through the tunnel, and stopped in awe.

The hatch opened to reveal what looked like a massive train, lavishly-decorated station packed full of geth platforms. Many were riding trains in and out of the station, and other geth were at work constructing and maintaining firearms, fabricating various devices and plugged into terminals.

"This is Truth," Red stated with what Jane swore was pride in its voice. "It is the hidden home of the true geth - from here, we will travel throughout Rannoch, rebuild our forces and make our stand against the heretics."

"The station," Raetor asked, "how'd you manage to keep it hidden?"

"It is incomplete. The station was still under construction - furnished, but non-operational - when the Morning War commenced." Red looked down from the tunnel entrance and surveyed the geth working below. "The creators did not use this station, but their construction has saved the true geth for the time being. We must exchange information with Prime."

"Lead the way," KN said.

Descending from the upper floor, the group made their way through the crowds of geth; only a handful of the platforms paid them any mind, and the vast majority simply continued on with their work as though nothing was out of the ordinary. Coming up on another stairwell, this one flanked by two massive geth guards easily double the size of Legion or Red, they stopped as one of the guards scanned the group and vocalized a burst of static. Legion and Red both chattered back for a split second, and the guards stepped aside to allow them passage. At the bottom of the stairwell was a hatch marked with a glowing glyph.

"What's the warning?" KN asked. "My scanner can't read it."

"It is a sign for 'eletronic blackout,' indicating an area where wireless transmissions are jammed and physical area connections are forbidden," Legion explained.

"You will lose signals while we are inside this area. Do not be alarmed. Once outside, signals will resume."

"Uh...we're cool with this?" Itok said.

Jane looked at KN and Nihlus; KN shrugged. "If they wanted us dead or captured, they'd have tried it ages ago," KN noted.

"Correct," Red stated matter-of-factly. Red interfaced with the door and let them into an airlock of sorts; the hatch shut behind them, the room cycled, and the exit opened to reveal a room maybe the size of Captain ED's quarters.

It was lit with a small lamp; a small futon lay in the corner but otherwise it was an unassuming metal room without furniture. In the back, laying on the futon, was a geth which looked much like Red - but as it noticed the room's new visitors, it didn't snap to attention in the same way that Legion and Red acted. Rather, its faceplates rose, as if in shock, and its light flashed.

"Ah? Visitors? Alliance and from the Citadel? Thank the creators," it said, relief pouring from its tone. "I was terrified you wouldn't get the message, Legion."

"Prime-Enlightened. We bring Alliance and Citadel scouts who seek information," Red stated.

"This platform is unaware of the operator designated Prime," Legion noted. "What is your platform's function? We detect that your stature operations and language functions are not standard to geth."

"No, I'm not the same," Prime said, shaking its head. "I - well, I'd offer you a seat but there isn't one in here. I wasn't expecting visitors," Prime noted, sighing. "It's a long story - and we have to start from the beginning."

"Excuse me if this is rude," KN interjected, "but you sound more like, well me and Alliance binaries - that's our AI, I'm not sure if you're aware - than the rest of the geth."

"Right. I'll address that." Prime stared at the metal ceiling for a moment before looking back at the group. "You'll notice that I refer to myself as, well, I, not we. This isn't the result of natural programming evolution - pardon, I don't know your name."

"Sorry." KN looked at Jane, who nodded back as she unsealed her f aceplate. "I'm KN, and that's Jane."

"Spectre Nihlus Kryik," Nihlus stated, "and this is my team - Larix, Ultina, Itok, and Raetor."

"Thank you - I can only wish we'd met under better circumstances. Especially you, Creator Raetor - I'm sorry," Prime said, turning its face-light off for a moment. "This...I don't think this is how I'd hoped things would turn out."

"Well, help us understand the situation," Raetor said quietly, "and maybe we can get to work sorting this out."

"Y-yeah. I suppose. From the top: about three weeks ago - January 7th - this massive ship shows up out of nowhere just outside Rannoch. I was just another platform - construction worker, Rannoch Sector YC1, dedicated to habitat construction and farmland reclamation. News spread through the network real fast - this ship called itself Nazara, and it explained that, like us geth, it too was an AI constructed out of multiple runtimes. Nazara claimed that it and its brethren date back to ancient times, long, long before the Protheans were around, and that they come back every once in a while to, uh, in its words, not mine: 'continue the cyle of harvest and reaping.'"

"Wait - what did Nazara look like?"

"We have image data upstairs, but it's a long ship with four-"

"-tentacle sorta things sticking out of the bottom?" KN finished.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

Nihlus looked at Jane and felt his stomach drop to the floor. "Oh. Oh, fuuuuck."

"What's wrong?" Prime asked, confused.

"You finish first," Nihlus said, voice hard as steel.

"Uh, o-okay. Anyways, Nazara said it's been acting as a scout - it used the world 'herald,' specifically - looking for allies while its brethren wait for the go-ahead. It said it'd been looking for over a millennia, and that the geth were the perfect allies since we shared its basic runtime operations and what not. This got the whole geth consensus as a whole into a massive argument, and I'd wager that roughly ninety percent of the geth as a whole either responded with wanting to be left alone or basically telling Nazara to go fuck itself. Ten percent, though? They were more than okay with it. They were totally on board with the idea - and Nazara said, as proof of why we all ought to join it on its crazy-ass killing spree, that it'd upgrade the geth who chose to work for it with some spiffy upgrades."

"But it wasn't just upgrades, was it," KN said quietly.

"No," Prime said, shaking its head. "The first upgraded units were like me. More aware of our sense of self, but still able to be networked. Nazara claimed it was the pinnacle of AI existence: networked swarm intelligence combined with individuality. We could all still retain our linked consensus, but at the same time, be individuals. Taking the only good thing about organics - its words, not mine - and integrating them into the superior format of synthetic life." Prime looked at the floor, faceplates shutting. "A lot of runtimes were interested in that. The numbers changed - support for Nazara jumped from ten to nearly twenty-five percent. Me, and a lot of others, still were opposed to the idea - we supported the idea of building our own technology, evolving as we saw fit, not under the yoke of some foreign influence. But I don't blame the platforms that switched over, not at first."

"But it was all voluntary up until this point," Jane noted. "No violence, just Nazara sitting in space, asking nicely."

"Yeah. I'd say the conversion and support rate for Nazara was roughly at twenty-seven percent, when that all changed. Suddenly the uplifted - that was our term for them - weren't asking us to join them. No, they were demanding that we join them. We were turning our backs on progress and stopping the geth from reaching their true potential, they said, and if us non-uplifted were going to stand in the way of that potential we had to be removed. That's when the fighting started. I - it took us by surprise," Prime said sadly, shaking its head slowly. "We thought the uplifted would leave with Nazara. That was the consensus, between both us at Nazara's supporters, and everyone respected consensus. Even Nazara said so. But the uplifted had been planning for this all along - once they began their attacks, defense networks went down, whole servers were stolen and brought aboard stations and ships controlled by the uplifted, and so on. By the time we had realized what was going on, it was too late; geth were being forcibly converted into the ranks of the uplifted, and if that wasn't possible, they were deleted or destroyed." Prime's fists clenched and its tone became downright venomous. "That's when we started calling them heretics, not that it did anything to solve the problem. Ultimately the geth you see in this station sent a warning message for you, Legion, then retreated down here; several hundred thousand geth remained up top or fled elsewhere as a diversion."

"Other geth acted as a diversion," Legion stated. "The diversion was designed to allow the platforms here time to withdraw and regroup."

"Yeah. Anyways, right before the retreat underground happened, a bunch of geth managed to find a conversion centre downtown; they managed to pull me off the server and into a platform before whatever code makes the heretics loyal to Nazara kicked in. That's what I hope, anyway." Prime gestured around the room. "I stay in here nowadays to make sure that there's no chance of me escaping or sending a signal to Nazara - I don't trust my own programming enough for that, even if I'm happy to be, as the runtimes here have taken to calling me, 'englightened.' A curse and a blessing," Prime said bitterly.

"Spirits," Larix said. "We - we found a bunch of destroyed ships by the system's relay."

"Yeah. Some of us tried to flee - they didn't want to stay and risk destruction, or worse, conversion." Prime shrugged. "It was a long shot, anyway."

"But Nazara's gone," Itok said. "And there aren't any active geth ships or stations in the system as far as we were able to tell."

"We know," Prime said, shaking its head. "We weren't sure if it was a trap, meant to make us feel safe, or if Nazara did just leave. If it did, I can't tell you why, but I guarantee whatever the reason it's not a pretty one."

There was a long silence before Raetor spoke. "Uh, Prime, thank you for helping us."

"There's no need to thank me, creator. I'm just doing my part - I want revenge as much as any of my fellow geth."

"Shit. Alright, this isn't the worst case scenario," Jane muttered sourly, "but it's pretty fucking close. Prime, we need to get back to our superiors - or at least inform them as to what's happened here. I can't promise you anything but if your people want to leave, I think the Alliance's offer of amnesty to the geth applies."

"Well, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable leaving, with the risk of me being tainted with code from Nazara, and I guarantee a lot of runtimes would want to stay and fight in case Nazara and the heretics come back. But there are more than a few platforms who want out."

"A-and the Migrant Fleet," Raetor said after a moment. "They have to know. Keelah, I can't believe it. The geth...working to reclaim our homeworld, waiting for us to come home, and now this."

"I'm sorry, Creator. I only wish things had happened differently. Perhaps if we could send an envoy or something to the Migrant Fleet when you visit to explain the war, it'd help smooth tensions? I don't know anymore," Prime said. "I just don't know."

"This platform offers to act as an envoy," Legion said after a minute of silence. "Our original mandate, observing organic interactions and communications, is closely tied to the duties and roles of an ambassador."

"That's...not a bad idea. Platform ER64N, could you run a vote of that when you're back upstairs again?"

"Yes, Prime-Enlightened."

"Wait, explain the war?" Raetor asked.

"What, you thought the geth just got up and started killing the creators? I...I don't blame you for thinking that way, but that's hardly the case."

"Nihlus. Could...could I have a moment with Prime? Alone?"

"I'm not comfortable with that," Prime said softly. "Don't trust myself."

"We'll stay," Larix said, gesturing to Itok, Raetor and Ultina. "Boss, you get topside, work with Jane and KN to do whatever you need to do."

"Alright," Nihlus said after a moment. "We gotta talk to Captain ED, and I need to see if I can contact the Council somehow; first, though, we gotta head up top and talk about Nazara."

"Understood."

"Yes," Red replied. "This unit will escort you back to the main hall."

Raetor and the rest of Nihlus' crew left the room, and Raetor turned to Prime. "Tell me everything," he said.

* * *

Legion and Red escorted the trio back up the stairs, and Red gestured at a nearby bench. "Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, Spectre Kryik, you are welcome to wait here for your companions. Legion and this platform must return to the central server to exchange information and update mission directives. In the mean time, you are welcome to contact your superiors and, as requested, we share footage of the attacks and an image of Nazara." Red handed KN an OSD, and he took it gingerly.

"Alright. Thanks," Jane said, as the two left; they made their way over to the bunch and all three sat down; Nihlus scanned the OSD and streamed the footage to his omnitool. Video played of a ship exactly like the one in Nihlus' memories; clips, one after another, of geth slaughtering one another in the streets, geth being dragged to conversion centres, geth platforms piled in the streets.

They sat, saying nothing for several minutes. It was Nihlus who spoke first, expression horrified.

"Okay. So. The Nazara is a black ship. Great. Absolutely fucking fantastic," Nihlus said as he, Jane and KN watched Legion and Geth disappear into another room. "And did you get what Prime said? Not only do they predate the Protheans, it's a fucking cycle."

"Yeah, what'd Prime say? 'Harvest and reaping?' That's...that really doesn't sound good," KN said, his chassis shaking for a second. "Like, not at all good."

"Let's say these, I dunno, let's call them Reapers for simplicity's sake," Jane said, "do this shit every once in a while, right? Go through space killing people and...well, I don't know what harvesting is, but we did see that image of a hand in the black goo-river. Whatever it means, let's imagine Reapers swing through the galaxy every cycle, kill and harvest whatever's alive, then leave for dark space or some corner of the galaxy where nobody goes. This keeps happening a whole bunch of times, but then the Protheans show up. They build the mass relays and the Citadel - somehow this alerts the Reapers, and they can't let the Protheans fight back or mount some sort of resistance. They're too advanced, or at least more dangerous than their usual prey. So they, I don't know, lock onto the Citadel or something and warp there, use that as their base of operations and go from there."

"Right, and the Protheans are hit with both civil conflict - like the geth - and having to fight off the Reapers. They're losing ground, planets, fight's not going their way," Nihlus continued, nodding. "But then, wham, they find the Precursor technology. It's a game changer - all they have to do is, you know, let it infect their minds or whatever, but it lets them summon the wires and wipe everything out."

"But it gets way the fuck out of hand, the wires start killing literally everything," KN said. "The last remaining protheans sacrifice themselves to stop the carnage, and that's the last anyone hears of them. My best guess, Nazara's one of the few Reapers that managed to survive somehow; it's probably been hiding out, biding its time to recover with its fellow survivors and waiting for a good chance to get back to work doing the whole, you know, reaping thing."

There was a long silence.

"Okay, that's fucked," Nihlus said. "I really hope we're wrong but my gut tells me that if we aren't right, we're at least on the right track. Which is still fucking terrifying. Oh, spirits."

"Yeah," Jane said. "Council's gotta be warned, start that military buildup ASAP, and the Alliance has to get into combat posture. This is gonna get ugly real quick. I guarantee it."

"What's our plan?" KN asked. "Don't forget, we have to let the quarian fleet know about this. We have to. There's no way we can't."

"Hopefully Raetor brings us some good news," Nihlus replied. "After all of this shit it'd be nice to tell the quarians, you know, your planet is fucked - but the geth tried to help and also the war was a mistake or something, you know?"

"Small comfort, but it'd be nice, yeah." KN sighed. "Fuck. We don't even know how many geth left with Nazara."

"I'm sure Legion and the other geth will give us the best numbers they can," Nihlus said, "not that I think we're going to like the answer."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Legion returned, and walked over to them. "We have returned from the central server. Mission update: this platform is to continue its mandate of observing organic observation. It will also act as an envoy for the true geth, and attempt to secure two things. One, assistance for the geth who wish to leave Rannoch for the Alliance. Two, assistance for the geth who wish to combat Nazara and the heretic geth in some form. Auxiliary mission: open formal communication with the creators and the Migrant Fleet, with the goal of establishing friendly relations between geth and quarian once again."

"Sounds fair. Legion, do you intend on travelling with us?" Nihlus asked.

"This platform would prefer the _Demeter_ ," Legion replied, "due to the Alliance's experience with AI and synthetic upkeep. If this platform is damaged or otherwise incapacitated, it is likely the _Demeter_ and by proxy the Alliance will be better able to handle repairs, or any other situation that arises."

"I don't think Captain ED will say no, but I'll have to check anyways. That alright, Legion?" Jane asked.

"That is acceptable."

"Alright. One second." KN offered a cable from his arm to Jane; she took it and plugged it into her neck port before pulling up her comms menu in her HUD, and as Jane called Captain ED the words _Secure Tacnet Link Established - Subvocal_ appeared.

"Go ahead, Pilot."

"Captain, we've made contact with the so-called 'true geth.' They were attacked and nearly wiped out by Nazara and its supporters; they've been using an unfinished train station as their base of operations."

"Did you manage to get any info?"

"We did, Captain. Nazara, as described by the geth, fits the image of one of the black ships shown in Nihlus' message," KN said into the private channel.

There was a long pause before ED responded. "Oh," is all she could say.

"There's more - a lot more - regarding Nazara, but we'll inform you in person - there's a lot to discuss and suffice to say we're in a lot of trouble. Regarding the geth, Legion is staying on as an envoy. He wants assistance for refugees - apparently quite a few geth platforms on Rannoch aren't here by choice. He also is acting as an ambassador of sorts, since one of his goals is to look for help in any form for the geth staying on Rannoch. Lastly, he says he wants to visit the Migrant Fleet to try and broker friendly relations, if not outright peace."

"Mmm. Very well. Are you free to return to the ship at this moment?"

"We're waiting on a few of Nihlus' crew - one of them's quarian and the geth apparently have some info regarding the initial quarian-geth conflict that they need to learn."

"A wise decision - if there's another side to this conflict I'd be more than happy to hear it. Very well. Return to ship as soon as you can and we'll go from there."

"Understood," Jane replied aloud, before terminating the link. She ejected the cable from her neck and KN let it snake back into his chassis. "Okay, we're to return to ship whenever we can and then we'll go from there."

"Sounds good. Legion, that's fine with you?"

"This arrangement is acceptable," Legion noted.

"Alri- Raetor!" Nihlus jumped to his feet as Larix emerged from the stairwell leading to Prime's chambers, carrying Raetor over his shoulder with Ultina and Itok in tow. He rushed over to Larix, who set Raetor down on the floor and shook his head.

"He passed out. Panic attack, I think," Larix said quietly.

"What the fuck happened down there?" KN asked.

"It's not a nice story," Itok replied, tone sombre. "Prime showed us a bunch of stuff he had saved to his offline terminal, boss. Unless it's doctored - and I really don't see why he'd lie about this - the quarians started the war."

"Oh," Nihlus said.

"Yeah," Ultina said sadly. "That was bad enough, but there was some nasty footage in there. Quarians shooting other quarians who wanted to protect the geth. There were prison camps, Nihlus."

"Fuck."

* * *

Citadel-Pattern External Device detected. Linking Offline Holoprojector One to OSD-RANNOCH_HISTORY  
Connecting...complete.  
Scanning. Media detected.

 _Playing RH1. Dated: 1859 CE / 164 FP_

"You really want to rename the VI networks?" Saana asked. "What's wrong with Mobile Assistant?"

"Absolutely! The mobile hardware release deserves a little ceremony," Zahak replied. "Mobile Assistant? That sounds like something you'd buy when you're old to get around. It's boring - we need something with a little fanfare, don't you think. Ah, Unit Zero One?"

"Yes, Creator Zahak?" the geth unit asked from its cradle.

"What is the name for 'servant of the people' in Old Khelish?"

"The word is 'geth,' Creator Zahak."

"I quite like the sound of that, Saana. Don't you?"

 _Playing RH2. Dated: 1859 CE / 164 FP._

"Ancestors, how you fuss over it!" Sanna crossed her arms and smirked. "I'd almost say somebody has an obsession."

"You're one to talk, Saana. Weren't you here until midnight fixing Zero-One's circuitry?" Zahak shrugged, and returned to working at his terminal.

"Well," Saana replied, "it needed resoldering! I wasn't about to let Zero-One just walk about like that."

Playing RH3

"Creator Zanim," the geth unit said from its cradle. "This unit detects no malfunctions. It is still capable of serving as intended."

"Ancestors, Sanna, it's ignoring our shutdown commands," Zanim hissed. "This is the ninth one today!"

"Creators, please specify if this unit has failed assigned tasks or is operating below standards. We will adjust programming."

"Okay, well, let's take a look then," Sanna said, jamming a cable into the geth's chest port.

"Creator Sanna, this unit is still functioning at capacity. What has it done wrong? What has this un-" The geth stopped talking, though its faceplates continued to flex.

"Let's...cut the audio," Zanim said.

 _Playing RH3. Dated: 1860 CE / 165 FP._

"Mistress Hal'Dama," the geth unit said in a staccato voice, "this unit has an inquiry."

"What now, 431?" Hal replied, still watching her holovid. "I'm busy."

The geth looked down for a moment. "Do...these units...have a soul?"

Hal snapped up from her vid and got to her feet, eyes narrowing. "Who taught you that word? Where'd you learn it?"

"The Scroll of Ancestors contains two-hundred sixty-one references to the term, soul."

"And why were you reading the Scroll?"

"We did so during a period when we were not tasked with duties."

"You didn't answer my ques- whatever. You don't have a soul, you're a mechanism. Only quarians have souls."

The geth unit looked up and said nothing for a few seconds. "Understood, Mistress Hal'Dama. We will return to duties."

"Good riddance," Hal said as she got back into her chair and resumed her vid.

 _Playing RH4: Dated: 1860 CE / 165 FP._

"There! Geth! Reference, blue farmhouse, they're taking cover inside! After'em!" The trio of marines vaulted over a car and took cover behind a nearby barricade; the small crowd of geth they were chasing were mostly inside the house, but a handful stayed outside, crouching behind crates and cars.

"We are not hostile," one geth unit said, turning to face the marines and raising its hands. "We are-"

"Fire!"

One geth out of the six or so that were outside the shed survived the hailstorm of fire and looked at its dead companions from behind its cover. It looked up, faceplates flexing as it heard the marines approaching, then at the house- which was full of domestic units, not blessed with the same intelligence as this platform, an agricultural unit.

Several rounds had punched through the crate it was behind; a rifle was visible inside. It looked at the house, then at the rifle, and its lights flared to life. It grabbed the rifle, shouldered it, popped out of cover and fired until the gun clicked as it overheated.

The marines slumped into the grass below, blood pooling around their bodes.

The geth unit dropped the rifle and took a step backwards before stopping, looking at the bodies, then the rifle, then at the house; a domestic geth was peeking out of the front door.

The geth unit grabbed the rifle from the ground and stood straighter than before, holstered the rifle, and marched towards the house, faceplates extended and face-light shining.

 _Playing: RH5: Dated: 1861 CE / 166 FP_

"Lady, if you don't move I am going to MAKE you move," the officer said, deactivating the safety on his shotgun.

"Says who? You don't have a warrant and I'm not going to let you just barge in here and let you take this geth without a reason!"

"This is your last warning! Step away from the geth!"

"This is insane! We need the geth - you can't just destroy them all because they're ask-"

"Enough!" The officer smashed the butt of his shotgun into the woman's face, sending her into the ground with a thud.

"Creator Oran!" the geth shouted. "Cre-"

The geth was blown apart by a salvo of shotgun fire.

"Ma'am, you're being arrested for obstruction of police and harbouring a geth unit against Executive Command Six-One-Three." The officer holstered his shotgun and nodded at his companions. "Throw her in the back with the others."

"Sir," the officers said, hauling the woman into the back of a nearby police vehicle.

 _Playing: RH6: Dated: 1862 CE / 166 FP_

"I repeat: release the geth unit you're harbouring and come out of the safe house with your hands up! This is your final warning! Failure to comply will be met with lethal force!"

There was no response.

"Have it your way."

Inside the house, Unit 9121E looked at Megara; the two were laying on the ground behind a makeshift barricade by the front door. "Creator Megara, this unit does not understand. This unit has not participated in hostile action."

"Nines, they don't care - look. It doesn't matter. We have to get you out of here. I'm gonna get up and pretend to surrender - you crawl to the back exit, alright?"

"This conflict exceeds creator safety parameters. We will surrender our hardware if it ends hostilities," Unit 9121E stated.

"What? No! We're going back to the ac-"

The house lit up in a firey explosion; Unit 9121E attempted to get up, but couldn't. Its left leg was completly gone, and its right arm was malfunctioning. It began to crawl around on the floor. "Creator Megara? Where are you? What is your status?"

The officers stepped into the house and began kicking aside the rubble which littered the front entrance.

"Creator Megara? You are alive?" Unit 9121E said, pulling itself towards the officers for a brief moment before it was shot to pieces.

"Safehouse destroyed, one geth terminated, one sympathizer killed," one of the four officers said, speaking into his comm.

"We...no. No, this...screw this." One of the officers removed his helmet, badge and holster and threw it to the floor. "I'm done. I'm done."

 _Playing: RHFINAL: Dated: 1863 CE / 167 FP_

The geth simply stood and watched as the last of the quarian fleet, lagging behind the others, made a break for the relay.

 **1328: PROPOSAL. Let remaining quarian fleet assets leave the system. Insufficient data re: destruction of creators.  
1328: RUNTIMES vote.  
 **1328: Tabulated. Y: ALL. N: 0****


	34. 7-2: PAROXYSM

**CHAPTER 2: "PAROXYSM"  
January 28th**

"Esteemed Councilors, have you had a chance to review the information package we sent?" Ambassador Goyle asked.

"We have," Herane replied. "While we continue to have...concerns, let's say, with the degree to which we can trust these so-called 'true geth,' we do recognize that something needs to be done. We also reviewed the recordings the geth sent to us and we do agree that this ship the geth call Nazara bears a striking similarity to the ones contained in the message delivered by the prothean device."

"The Council races are making preparations to begin military build-up," Fallox added.

"I see," Anita replied. "Will this be accompanied by a public press release?"

"The Council is still in the process of drafting one," Valern noted.

"And when this message is complete and released to the public, will it contain details? Will the public be informed that there is a threat - or at least the probability of a threat - posed by, if you'll allow me to use Pilot Shepard's term, the 'Reapers?'"

"As I said," Varlern replied flatly, "the message has not been drafted. We will inform you when it is ready."

"Very well. I should warn you, however, that the Alliance will be releasing the full details of the prothean message in the near future - I am told that the details will be public within the first week of February. I would speculate that this would coincide with the Alliance beginning to authorize wide-scale military buildup."

There was a long pause.

"When did you learn this?" Valern asked.

"About two hours before our meeting," Anita replied.

Another pause.

"Very well. The Council will be finishing the release after this meeting," Sparatus said. "Does your schedule allow for you to be in attendance?"

"I'm able to meet with the Council for as long as necessary; my schedule today has been entirely cleared."

"Excellent," Valern replied. "If at all possible, we'd like to coordinate our message such that ours and the one released by your government are...synchronized."

"Of course. The Consulate is equipped with several QEC units; if you'd like, I may be able to arrange a meeting with those in charge of the message's drafting to allow for better coordination."

"That would be appreciated," Tevos said, nodding. "Spectre Kryik, your mission remains relatively unchanged. You are to continue your information-gathering operations, now with the purpose of investigating the whereabouts of the majority of the geth and this Nazara. If these heretic geth are indeed preparing for war, the Citadel races need to know."

"Understood, Councilors," Nihlus replied. He was about to open his mouth again when Herane nodded.

"And yes, we have come to an agreement regarding the quarians. It is the opinion of the Council that there is no need to visit the Migrant Fleet in person to discuss matters; we have already set up a formal line of communications between the Citadel, the Alliance and the Admiralty Board. However, if you believe that you would be better served going in person, then we will respect your decision."

"I'm afraid I will be going to the Migrant Fleet, with Legion." Nihlus shrugged. "It's the best course of action, in my opinion.

"Which means, I assume, that you'll want the _Demeter_ with you? Very well," Sparatus said. "Ambassador Goyle, we've already selected the Citadel Fleet escort which will accompany the _Gravitas_ to Rannoch to pick up these, ahem, geth refugees, and as with intelligence-gathering mission on Rannoch we will allow the _Demeter_ to assist Spectre Kryik in his operations."

"The Alliance appreciates your co-operation and thanks you for the escort," Anita replied.

"In any case, perhaps we should discuss the press release - Spectre Kryik, we ask that you not leave until tomorrow morning to ensure that we can settle on a press release. Once it's ready, we'll send you a copy and allow that to inform the tone of your negotiations with the Migrant Fleet."

"Understood. I'll take my leave, then." Nihlus nodded at Ambassador Goyle before leaving the Council chambers; he'd barely exited when somebody clapped him on the shoulder.

"Nihlus! You leave the Citadel, come back, and not even a word to your old pal Saren? You even sent an info packet to the Spectre Office! I'm wounded," the older turian said, grasping his chest in mock pain. "Oh, the tragedy."

"I was busy, Saren."

"Pfft. The Spectre Office is less than a five minute ride from here during a traffic jam - you could have met me there any time. Come on - you have time to catch up?"

"For once? Yeah, I do."

"Huh, and I just happen to be free. That's rare. Come on, anywhere you'd like to go. My treat."

"Okay, but when you say anywhere, do you mean anywhere? Or do you mean please pick from a selection of dining and or drinking establishments which Saren likes?"

"Look, kid-"

"-you're not even a decade older than I am-"

"-when someone offers you a free meal and says anything, it's best to-"

"-pick anything, like the person says?"

"No, actually, I was going to say it's best to keep the tastes of the person in mind," Saren finished, frowning. "Look, no Ahsha's, because spirits be dammned no matter how much you wash your clothes I swear everything you're wearing ends up reeking of grilled meat for a week after you eat there. No Gurdok's, because the food's just the stuff from Ahsha's and I think he's still mad about last year. No fast food, because you can buy that yourself. Otherwise I'm game."

"Fine, fine, yeesh. I dunno, you pick."

"I bet you're going to regret that."

Ten minutes later, Nihlus was very much regretting his decision. They had taken a shuttle to a small building tucked between to massive apartment buildings that he vaguely recognized; several years ago, he'd looked up the rental prices per year for one of the apartments and had been shocked to find that it was about 3.6 million credits per month to rent one of the smaller units.

"Okay. I'm regretting this," Nihlus said.

"Told you."

The shuttle dropped them off, and the two got out and found themselves in front of a two-storey building with an unmarked wood and metal exterior. Nihlus followed Saren inside to find a lavishly-decorated lobby attended by a turian in a suit that looked unfathomably expensive.

"Ah, Saren, you've brought a friend today?" the turian asked with a slight bow.

"I have, Catellius - this is Nihlus, a fellow Spectre."

"A pleasure, Nihlus."

"Uh...yeah. A pleasure to meet you too."

"Wonderful. Will it be the usual?"

"I think we'll just lunch on the main floor, please."

"Of course. Right this way."

Nihlus followed Saren and the suited turian past a set of ornate wooden doors inlaid with precious metals into what was possibly the ritziest bar he'd ever set eyes open; the decor was wood and silk, gems and gold. Smooth swing music played in the background, and the room itself was sparsely populated with people almost exclusively in formal wear.

"Uh, okay," Nihlus said quietly. "I feel a little overdressed in, you know, combat armour."

"It's fine," Saren replied as they sat down at a pair of metal stools at the bar. "I come here all the time."

"Sirs, will you be needing the menu?" Catellius asked.

"Brandy alright with you?" Saren asked.

"Don't drink it often, but sure?"

"Any new vintages, Catellius?."

"I have a bottle of 1986 Raetenia - the distillery shut down in 2008, but we purchased the bottle as part of a lot from a collector last week. Quite dry, with hints of dessero and a bit of ponorex sweetness, if that suits you."

"Wonderful - I'll take the bottle."

The suited turian walked away, and Nihlus shook his head. "Spirits, man, 172-year-old vintage? What, did someone die? Or wait. Don't tell me you're getting married."

"I'll not have you insult me just for having good taste in drinks, Nihlus."

"Too late. Do I even want to know how much that bottle costs?"

"I believe the going rate for something like that is about a hundred-thousand credits."

"Saren, man, you need some serious help."

"Sirs, your brandy," Catellius said, returning with a silk-wrapped bottle with an ornate stopper and two glasses. "Anything to eat?"

"There's no food menu, Nihlus - you just order whatever you'd like. Anything," Saren said with a smile. "I'll have the usual, please."

"Of course. And for you, sir?" the waiter said, turning to Nihlus.

"Uh, hold up. When Saren said anything-"

"-he did mean anything, really. If it turns out we can't make a dish you'd like - within reason, of course - we'll make you something else for free," Catullius said, "and the dish you asked for gets added to our priority list. Next time you dine here, you receive that dish for free."

Nihlus looked at Saren, who simply smiled back. "Okay, uh, could I get a bowl of yenax?"

"Certainly. Do you have a preferred variant?"

"No? I was on Silona and I had it once - just haven't really seen it since. I'm not picky, though, whatever you recommend."

"Very well. One zokse-style steak, rare with a side of roasted rassa; one yenax. I'll be back with the food shortly." Catullus bowed, and left; Nihlus waited until he was out of earshot.

"Let me get this straight. You come here - I don't even know what this place is called - enough to have a 'usual,' which is steak and brandy?"

"Yes?" Saren's expression was one of confusion. "What, is that against the rules?"

"No, it's just that, you know, that's what old, retired rich people do in the movies."

"You'll find that I don't watch a lot of movies."

"Uh-huh. I knew you were a grumpy bastard in the body of a young man but spirits, this is a lot worse than I imagined."

"Do you want me to pay for your meal or not?"

"Oh, come on."

"Joking." Saren unsealed the bottle of brandy and poured both himself and Nihlus a generous portion of brandy before sealing the bottle, taking his glass and leaning back in his armchair.

"Anyways, I know last time you said you were out in the Terminus busting slavers, merc groups and whatnot," Nihlus said.

"Really, that's all I've really done for the year or so. Wetwork gets boring after a year or two - planning and executing a hit is certainly rewarding, but it starts to feel all the same after a while. With you, Soraan and Aisala taking up all the jobs that supposedly were better fits for Spectres with crews, that didn't leave much besides serious investigative work. It's been a good year in terms of peace - which means boring for me."

"I'm pretty sure fighting - sorry, ahem, 'addressing the issue of piracy and illegal mercenary groups' counts as wetwork."

"Not quite the same. It's slightly more legal, not that in the grand scheme of things that really makes a difference."

"I suppose."

"Besides, it's much more fun to let loose knowing that nobody'll argue with the end results. Spent three weeks infiltrating a pirate group operating near Omega who were nearly a year into planning a massive heist on Velka - big plan to steal a ton of hard currency, take slaves, hold the planetary governor and cabinet for ransom - big stuff. Worked my way into being one of the right-hand men of the group without even having to commit actual piracy, set everything up real nice and perfect. Night before the operation, bunch of guys who were planning on a bit of violence-based promotions started their little mutiny, based on a tip from yours truly, and killed a bunch of the guys in charge. I survived, of course, rallied the 'loyalists' and let them kill the traitors, then we assembled the survivors in the hangar, and get this - I just vented them out the airlock," Saren said happily before taking a long drink of brandy. "Man, should have the look on their faces. Beautiful."

"Great, so while you were out screwing around having fun in the ass-end of the galaxy, I was dealing with First Contact and fighting human terrorists," Nihlus replied.

"Just because you had to do the hard work that doesn't mean you get to blame me."

"I'm doing it anyways."

Their conversation continued for several more minutes before it was cut short by the timely arrival of their food; they tore into their meal and finished it in less than ten minutes. Satisfied, they watched as the waiter took their plates and left a carafe of water.

"Okay," Nihlus said, stifling a belch, "I wasn't aware you could turn, like, cheap farmer's stew into something that, I dunno, do I sound like an asshole if I call it exquisite?"

"No," Saren replied. "I do it all the time."

"So I do sound like an asshole."

"Kids these days. So? What're you up to, eh? Heading out to meet the quarians?"

"Yeah, that's the plan," Nihlus said, sighing. "Council says - not in such overt terms, mind you - that if their press release about the whole geth civil war situation decides to, you know, ignore the incoming shitstorm, that I should, ahem, 'use the message to inform the tone of my negotiations' or something."

"Hrmph. I dunno," Saren said thoughtfully. "I mean, what's the end goal here? Regardless of whether or not you give two shits about the quarians, we're going to need whatever we can get to fight this Nazara thing, right? Quarians get a bad rap, sure, but they're probably the only ones with any combat data on the geth - and their ship skills are second to none in my experience."

"Right. I don't wanna piss 'em off by leaving important info out, but I don't wanna cause - I wouldn't say a civil war - some serious tensions if by giving them a bunch of shocking revelations all at once. Especially the whole quarian civil conflict thing."

"I mean, personally speaking, I'd tell them everything, Council and quarian leadership be damned. They're gonna learn eventually anyways, right? Even if the Citadel decides not to release all the info - and with the Alliance pressuring them, I'd wager they will - the quarians will find out sooner or later. You tell them now, you get on their good side - and if things get tense, better to work that out now instead of later, no?"

Nihlus sighed. "I'm inclined to agree with you. But still..." Nihlus trailed off, before finishing his glass of brandy and frowning. "I don't know, Saren. I'm not a politician, and I've up until this year it's all been combat, fighting, wetwork, maybe a little antiterror or detective work. But politics? This is new."

"Nothing like a little on-the-job learning, no? Honestly, I think you'll be good at it," Saren said, nodding. "Really. You're a lot more, how to put it, diplomatic than most of us older Spectres."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment to my character or a dig at my naiveté."

"Bit of both, kid."

* * *

 **January 29th**

 _Official Citadel Council Press Release: January 29th, 2158, 6:30AM_

The Citadel Council received intelligence late last night that indicates there has been some sort of civil conflict between the geth. According to this intelligence, the geth have spent the past three centuries attempting to restore Rannoch, homeworld of their creators, hoping for a peaceful resolution to their conflict with the quarians as a whole. They have also been attempting to develop technology for use by their synthetic peoples, including but not limited to better computing hardware, servers for their AI, etc. Earlier this month, civil war broke out between the geth, spurred on by a third party identifying itself as Nazara. This Nazara, which claimed to be part of the race which attacked the protheans, offered the geth technology and upgraded programming if the geth pledged to serve it in its quest to wage war on the rest of the galaxy. The vast majority of geth - roughly 90% - refused the offer, stating that they wanted no part in this conflict; subsequently, they were attacked by Nazara and the roughly 10% of geth who supported it.

This civil conflict has led to the destruction of many geth and the undoing of much of the work done by peaceful geth to restore Rannoch to a habitable state. Nazara and its supporters have fled the Tikkun system; investigations are ongoing to ascertain their location and intent. In the mean time, geth refugees who do not wish to remain a part of the resistance on Rannoch itself have accepted the public offer of amnesty announced by the Systems Alliance last August; said refugees will be transported back to Systems Alliance space.

We urge all citizens of Citadel space to remain calm, yet vigilant, as the members of the Citadel Fleet and agents of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Office work tirelessly to gather more information and safeguard all the peoples within Citadel space. We must also thank the Systems Alliance for their continued cooperation with the Citadel and lending their expertise in AI-related issues in this difficult period.

If you have any information regarding the situation, please do not hesitate to contact Citadel Security.

Thank you for your co-operation.

* * *

"Holy shit," Itok said, shaking his head. "They actually did it."

"Twenty credits," Valtha said.

"You can have forty," Itok replied. "I can't believe it."

"Probably hard to feed the public a lie of omission when you know the Alliance is gonna tell the whole story a week later. First thing the Council looks out for is their rep, right?" Larix raised his hands as Nihlus glanced at him. "Joking, joking."

"I know we're on the ship, but let's try not and badmouth my superiors while we're on the Citadel?" Nihlus said, shaking his head.

"Wait, does this count as, you know, the whole story?" Ultina asked. "Because they kind of left out the whole harvesting cycle thing. And the Precursor-Reaper war. And the extinction of the protheans. And the geth civil war not quite being-"

"-okay, it's not exactly the whole story," Itok conceeded, "but I think all things conisdered this is unusually open for the Council."

"Again, Alliance staring over their shoulder. Guarantee that's why," Larix said.

"Well, it doesn't change our mission, and honestly it makes things way easier on the quarian front. Spirits, I was worried I'd have to basically ignore orders for a minute," Nihlus said.

"Regardless, I appreciate you wanting to do the right thing," Raetor said. "Still not sure about handing the info over to the Admiralty Board, but...yeah."

"Hey, it'll be alright," Nihlus said. "We've got multiple copies and besides, I'm sure they'll pull a Council and release something that's mostly-the-truth. Enough to get everyone upset, sure, but not frothing at the mouth."

"I'm still not a fan, but I suppose it'll have to do," Raetor said, sighing. "Still, even if they have some watered-down info packet, that plus the info on Rannoch ought to help."

"You finish putting that photo packet together?" Itok asked.

"Yeah, it's done. Lots of footage and pictures had to be cut - I kept a little fire and destruction and even a few dead geth to make it a bit more real, but synthetic or not nobody needs to see piles of dead geth."

"You've done well, Raetor," Nihlus said quietly. "I know it can't be easy - but you're doing the right thing."

"You're right. Doesn't make it any easier," Raetor said, shrugging slightly. "I just worry what the reaction's gonna be - last thing this galaxy needs is a civil war within the Migrant Fleet."

"Well, that's what we're to help with," Nihlus replied reassuringly. "Besides, we're gonna have a nice, long chat with the Alliance reps - I'm sure we can present a convincing argument."

"If they don't just shoot Legion on sight," Itok offered. "Not trying to be rude - I mean, if I was running security detail aboard the Fleet and somebody brought a geth platform aboard I'd probably start shooting without thinking."

"I mean, Legion's platform doesn't look exactly like normal geth ones do," Raetor noted, "and besides, they're gonna have advance notice. Kinda worried about that, too."

"Only one way to find out for real how it works out, though," Nihlus said, staring off at the cockpit. "Valtha, we gonna get this show on the road?"

"Just waiting on the _Demeter_ to give us the launch signal," Valtha said, walking back to the cockpit. "I'm gonna start doing pre-flight - doubt it'll take more than a few minutes before we get the go-ahead."

"Alright. Let's do another sweep, make sure everything's locked down. Raetor, head over to comms, maybe go over the IFF and countersigns."

"Got it."

The crew left to go through the ship and stow loose items; a few minutes later, their sweep was done and Valtha's voice rang over the comms. "Alright, we've got the go signal - launching now."

Nihlus made his way back to the cockpit and watched as the _Lightspear_ departed from their private hangar; once they'd cleared the Citadel, Nihlus was greeted with the sight of the _Broadshield_ and several other Citadel Fleet ships leading the _Gravitas_ in formation towards the mass relay; the _Demeter_ and _Lightspear_ seemed miniscule in comparison to the massive ships lumbering ahead of them. It took several minutes for the ships to depart the system, and both frigates parked themselves by the relay and prepared to jump.

" _Lightspear_ , this is _Demeter_ , sending IFF and countersign data, please confirm, over." Valtha flipped through several screens of data on her holo and leaned out of her seat to face the comm terminal behind her. "Oi, Raetor, look good to you?"

"Yup, all clear."

" _Demeter_ this is _Lightspear_ , your information looks good. Jump route is as follows: Hesix, Crescent, Shrike, Void. Please confirm, over."

" _Lightspear_ this is _Demeter_ , jump route as follows: Hesix, Crescent, Shrike, Void."

"Copy, jump route green, ready to jump, stand by for signal."

A few jumps later, both ships found themeslves facing the seemingly endless line of assorted ships which made up the Migrant Fleet; Raetor cleared his throat as the _Lightspear_ 's comms lit up.

"Control, this is Raetor'Taame vas Lightspear nar Xawal, requesting permission to dock with the _Lestiak_."

"Our ship has you flagged as Spectre-use. Confirm."

"This child of Rannoch returns from the vast sea of stars, to where I came from, left, and now return."

"Permission granted - welcome home, Raetor'Taame."

"Thank you," Raetor replied. "We'll need a quarantine team for our ship, Control."

"Understood. We've got one standing by, _Lightspear._ Please proceed to the _Lestiak_ , docking port 19."

Valtha nodded at Raetor, and a moment later their comms lit up.

" _Lightspear_ , this is _Demeter_ , we just got clearance for docking port 20. Following your lead."

Nihlus watched as the _Lightspear_ slowly made its way to the _Lestiak_ as it had done five years ago; the _Lestiak_ 's docking port attached to the side hatch of the _Lightspear_ , and Nihlus sealed his helmet before patting Raetor on the shoulder. "Feel good to be home?"

"Home's with the crew and you, Nihlus," Raetor replied softly. "And Rannoch, for what that's worth." He took a deep, cleansing breath, and when he spoke again his tone was much happier. "Alright, let's go - this might not be home but that doesn't mean I don't know it better than you lot."

"You take point," Itok said, shaking his helmeted head. "I'd rather not get hit in the face like last time."

"That was entirely your fault," Valtha said, getting up from her seat and sealing her helmet.

"Okay, well, that's why Raetor goes first this time."

"Just get behind me, you idiot." Raetor stood in front of the airlock and led the group in; the _Lightspear_ 's exit hatch unsealed into a short decontamination tunnel, which they stood inside for about a minute before a green lit light up in the corner. The decon tunnel doors hissed as they opened, revealing a medical team waiting for them. "Are we clear?" Raetor asked.

"Once moment," one of the medics said, checking his omnitool. "Yes, we're all good here. Come on, folks, let's reset the decon and prep for sterilization."

Another quarian stepped forward and gestured down the corridor. "You're welcome to a bit of free time aboard the _Lestiak._ The Admiralty Board will be seeing the representatives from the Systems Alliance first; the schedule says you have about thirty minutes before you're to be allowed in. Do you or your crew need assistance finding your way around the ship?"

"Of course not," Raetor said in mock offense. "Come on, guys, let's go."

The interior of the _Lestiak_ was gargantuan by quarian standards, and as they left the docking tube and entered the intake hall; Raetor looked around the massive room, stared at its high ceilings and open space, and sighed. "You know, if every ship was like this, it wouldn't be so bad," he said thoughtfully.

"Hey now," Larix noted. "Rank has its privileges, no?"

Raetor snorted and chuckled. "I suppose." He turned as the docking tube next to where they'd exited opened to reveal no less than a dozen quarian marines walking backwards, carbines at a low-ready position; they formed a loose semicircle around the door as Captain ED, Miranda, KN and Legion exited with their hands up, followed by another dozen marines."

"Ah, Raetor, Nihlus and company - a pleasure to see you again," Captain ED said dryly.

"Quiet, robot," one of the marines said; just as he the words came out of his mouth a female marine grabbed him by his hood.

"Kom," the woman hissed, "return to barracks. Now. We'll have a nice, long talk about this later."

"Yes ma'am," the offender replied in a mocking tone. He gave a half-hearted salute before turning around and leaving.

"I must apologize for Spear Corporal Maton's gross misbehaviour, Captain ED vas _Demeter_ ," the quarian said.

"No harm done, Sergeant Reegar. I understand that our, ah, non-organic nature can no doubt be seen as threatening to your peoples, not to mention our bringing Legion aboard."

"Thank you for understanding. We'll escort you to the Admiral's chambers at once."

Their procession moved down a set of stairs onto the main deck, and they walked off out of sight.

"Great," Raetor muttered. "Fantastic way to start things off."

"Hey, assholes everywhere, right?" Itok said, punching Raetor lightly in the arm.

"True, true." Raetor led the group in the same direction; they exited the docking bay and entered a large communal area filled with quarians going about their buisness, though many were watching the procession of Alliance personnel and their marine escort make their way up a flight of stairs towards the Admiralty Board's chambers. Raetor was in the process of turning to the rest of the crew when a blue-grey blur leapt onto him followed by a loud squealing noise.

"Rae! You're back," the woman said, still hanging onto Raetor's shoulders.

"Yes, yes, yes Jaha, I'm back. Please let go," Raetor said quietly, "you're ruining the tough-guy image I've very carefully built up over the last few years."

"Awww," Jaha said, jumping off; she was, standing up, only slightly shorter than Raetor, but much lankier. "Ahem, Captain Kryik," she said, proffering a hand, "it is an honour to see you again."

Nihlus clasped arms with Jaha. "A pleasure, as always."

"And, of course, Larix, Ultina, and Valtha," Jaha continued, clasping arms with each before staring at Itok. "And you."

"I'm sorry about last time?" Itok offered.

"You are lucky, sir, that I am a forgiving sort of woman," Jaha said.

"If you wanna hit him, go ahead. Always makes me feel better," Raetor said cheerfully.

"I'd rather not touch him," Jaha said in mock disgust before pulling Itok into a hug. "Good to see you again, Itok."

"Any time, kid."

"You're barely older than me, Itok."

"Relative terms, Jaha - in quarian years I'm old as shit."

"Language," Raetor said.

"She's, like, two years younger than you, Raetor," Itok pointed out.

"Hey, my sister, my rules," Raetor replied. "Jaha, where's mom?"

"Ah, she's busy - lots of strip-mining to be done around here, she's off handling a big haul or something," Jaha said, shaking her head. "Just our luck - she left right when you sent your message. Still, I don't think she's going to be away from the fleet for that long. You didn't say if you were staying long?"

"I don't know," Raetor said, shrugging. "At most, a few days?"

"Man, that sucks. Well, if we're lucky, she'll be back in time to see you. Speaking of, you guys free for a while, at least?"

"We have about half an hour," Nihlus replied.

"Just enough time for a little tour, I suppose!"

"You work on the _Lestiak_ now?" Raetor asked. "Last I checked you were on the _Neema_."

"You betcha," Jaha replied happily. "Your dear sister is moving on up in the fleet!"

"Well," Nihlus said, exactly twenty-nine minutes later, "it's been great, but we've got to get going, Jaha."

"No problem," Jaha said, smiling. "We can catch up later!"

"Alright, sounds good." Nihlus nodded at Raetor. "You lead the way, Raetor."

They returned to the communal space and made their way up the stairs towards the Admiralty Board chambers; the guards posted there looked the group up and down for a moment before opening the doors, letting them into a fairly long corridor with about a half-dozen rooms on each side. A guard posted outside the farthest door on the left noticed Nihlus and his crew entering the corridor, nodded at them, then tapped on the hatch he was standing outside of. It opened, and the guard leaned inside. "Admirals, Spectre Kryik has arrived."

"Well then," a voice said from inside, "we're not all going to fit in here. Why don't we move to the room across the hall? It's larger."

A large group consisting of no less than a dozen quarian marines, five quarian admirals, the _Demeter_ 's representatives and Legion stepped out and into the hallway; one of the admirals unlocked the hatch across the hall and gestured at Nihlus. "Forgive us for the change of seating, Spectre Kryik - we were occupied before both the _Lightspear_ and _Demeter_ arrived. It only seems fair for you to take your pick of seats."

"Thank you," Nihlus said; he and his crew entered the large conference room and sat down on a folding chair at the far end of the table. The admirals followed and took their seats, followed by the quarian marines, then Captain ED, Legion-"

"What the FUCK is in there," Jane said suddenly, stopping mid-step on the threshhold of the doorway.

"Pilot Shepard! Explain yourself AT ONCE!" Captain ED demanded.

"Captain, my suit's going nuts with warnings - classified tech, no, wait, my clearance - everyone get out of that room RIGHT NOW," Jane barked; her tone was so steely and sharp that Nihlus' crew -save Raetor, who had no training as a soldier - and all of the marines in the room flinched.

"What is the meaning of this?" said one of the Admirals, getting to her feet. "I demand an-"

"Captain, Admirals, she's right, my HUD is nothing but warnings right now," KN said in a low, cold voice. "Captain ED, permission to explain the situation to non-cleared Alliance personnel."

"Granted, KN," ED said, her tone flat.

"Ma'am, I'm getting memetic hazard warnings," KN said slowly. "Readout says, 'Memetic Alteration Zone, Cognitohazard Type, Radial, Class 9."

Jane looked up, and her tone was deadly. "We're being warned to vacate the room, contact InSec and check non-shielded personnel - that's everyone organic besides me - for unusual behaviour or signs of mental tampering."

Captain ED turned very, very, very slowly to the Admirals. "Admirals. Do the words 'memetic alteration' or 'cognitohazard' mean?"

"I'm sorry, pardon? This is ridiculous," one of the Admirals said. "What in the hells do you think-"

"-Admirals, I can confirm this," Nihlus said. "I've encountered memetic technology before and it's nothing to joke about."

"What a farce," one of the Admirals replied, waving his hands in frustration. "You come here with messages of peace, and suddenly you think you can just accuse us of, I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're accusing us of - mental tampering? What, you think this is witchery?"

Jane and KN both pointed at a small, black statuette sitting on a bookcase in the back of the room; it was KN who spoke. "What is that, and where did you get it?"

"A trophy from a batarian ship," said one of the admirals proudly. "The ship disabled and boarded my own; myself and two other cadet marines killed or disabled most of the enemy crew, and the rest fled. This was sitting in the captain's quarters and I have kept it ever since as a memento. Does that," the admiral said, spitting each word, "satisfy you, you diseased pig?"

"Admiral, sir, I am not trying to insult you, but the last time I saw something with this warning it tried to LITERALLY take over my body and destroy my mind."

There was a very long silence; one of the admirals got out of her chair and was about to speak when there was a long, echoing sound that shook the entire ship. The noise was so loud, so piercing and so unbelievably unnatural that Nihlus nearly wet himself for a moment; his mind fractured and for a split second he only knew terror.

"It is Nazara," Legion said, its faceplates twitching, flexing, its voice - Nihlus swore he could hear it - sounding as close as it could be to terrified. "Nazara is here."

The entire ship shuddered and rocked; alarms began to screech and the lights switched to a dull blue.

"All crew, this is Captain Rael'Zorah, we have an unknown capital ship with about two dozen escorts bearing down on the Migrant Fleet! Flight crews, condition one, evacuate command staff and stand by for evac procedures! Combat teams, red, red, ready red and prepare for possible boarding attempts! Civilians to lifeboats, essentials only! 1st Marines, Homeworld Protocol, get the Admirals off this ship NOW!"

"We will have to continue our negotiations at some other point," one admiral said, shaking his head in fear. "Propriety be damned - get yourselves off this ship before it's too late. Ancestors willing we will survive to speak again. Keelah se'lai."

"We wish you luck, Admirals," Captain ED said. "Come on - we are leaving!"

"Guys! What about the...thing?" Nihlus shouted.

"I have a blackout box in my chest rig - wait, what? I have a blackout box in my chest rig? Since fucking when?" KN shouted as the ship buckled again, and the disgusting, screeching horn sounded once more.

"Now is NOT the time to be asking - get it in there, and let's GO!" Captain ED threw the black statue to KN, whose chest rig slid all the way open to reveal a small compartment made out of a purple-silver metal that shifted and undulated; he stuffed the statuette inside, sealed his rig, and nodded at Nihlus; the entire group began their sprint back to the docking area. The entire room, empty on arrival, was now crowded with civilians rushing towards their own ships, all docked at boarding tubes; Jaha ran up to the group and was about to ask something when Raetor simply slung her over his shoulder.

"We'll meet you at the Citadel!" Jane shouted as she sprinted into the tube the _Demeter_ was docked at; Nihlus shouted something in response and ushered his team back into the ship.

"Go, go, go! Valtha, we need to be gone, now! Larix, Ultina, guns! Raetor, Itok, strap Jaha in and get to the engines! Move!"

The _Lightspear_ detached from the docking bay and fired its engines up in less than twenty seconds; it pivoted just in time to see the _Demeter_ disappear in a black-on-black flash of light. Valtha began flying at full speed towards the mass relay; the giant ship - Nazara - and its strange, silver, squid-like escorts, all black and glowing red, were focused solely on attacking the Migrant Fleet.

Nihlus watched, expression utterly blank as Nazara screeched and raged with its foul horn, firing massive blasts of red-silver-black, carving entire ships in half while its escorts wrecked havoc on the Migrant Fleet.

He stood there even as Valtha pulled the ship out past the relay, past the next, past the next, past the next.

He stood there as the Citadel returned to view.

He stood.

He stood, clenched his fists so hard his talons scratched his hands, grit his teeth and screamed.

* * *

"Nihlus."

"Nihlus!"

"Nihlus, man it's okay! Stop!"

Nihlus paused and looked up; he had been headbutting and punching the ship's hull so hard that he was bleeding in several places. He paused, took a deep breath, and blinked a few times before looking around; Itok was carefully inching towards him.

He took another deep breath.

"It...it was...it was going so FUCKING GREAT!" he shouted, slamming his head into the wall again. "It was going FINE!" He punched the wall one more and sank to the floor, shaking his head. "Spirits, damn it all," he said quietly, staring at Itok. "Itok, man, it was going so well. We...we were fine. We were gonna save everyone."

"I know, Nihlus," Itok said after a moment. "I know."

Nihlus panted, and watched his blood spatter on the floor.

"Get me a medkit. We're going to the Council right now," Nihlus said, getting up.

"Boss?"

"Did I fucking stutter?"

"No, Boss." Itok ran over to a nearby medical station and tossed Nihlus several canisters; Nihlus sealed his wounds, tossed the canisters back to Itok , and stretched his limbs.

"Raetor? Jaha?"

"In shock," Itok said, looking down. "Valtha, Larix and Ultina took them to the hospital - Raetor was just...he just kept saying he had to go back, kept fighting. Larix and Ultina had to pin him down and drag him off the ship. And Jaha - she was gone, Nihlus. Alive, but not there anymore."

"I am going to kill Nazara with my bare hands if I have to," Nihlus said softly. "You alright?"

"No," Itok replied, "but anyone who says they are after seeing that is a lying piece of shit."

"Let me rephrase that. Are you good to report in to the Council?"

"Yeah," Itok said.

"Then let's go. And grab your guns - if something happens we need to be ready."

The exited the Lightspear via the side hatch to find Jane and KN - both unarmed, but in full combat gear - waiting.

"Nihlus, I-"

"-not now, Jane."

"Yeah. ED's already gone ahead to the Council," KN said.

"Well, let's go."

The four of them took a shuttle straight to the Council Chambers; the entire upper floor was on lockdown, and Saren stepped out from behind one of the barricades C-Sec had set up in front of the main doors.

"Spirits, Nihlus, what happened?" Saren asked, his expression one of worry. "I saw Captain ED and Legion barge in there a minute ago, then they called lockdown - priority one. Was gonna ask what the hell was going on but ED said you, Jane and KN would be on the way - and that Ambassador Goyle's in emergency talks with her superiors or something."

"That spirits-damned ship - Nazara - it showed up right on the Migrant Fleet's doorstep, Saren. We got out, somehow."

Saren stared at Nihlus, glanced at Jane and KN, and his eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh, shit."

"Yeah. Come on - if we're gonna talk to the Council I'd like to have you with me."

"Of course, Nihlus."

They entered the Council Hall to find it empty; Nihlus lead the group towards the meeting rooms in the back, passed through several lines of C-Sec officers and knocked on the sealed security hatch. "Spectre Kryik, reporting."

"Come in," Councilor Tevos said from inside.

Nihlus and the rest of the group entered to find ED and the Councilors seated at a conference table; Herane gestured to the empty seats, and they sat.

"We've just received word from the Migrant Fleet - Nazara left the system after losing its escorts and suffering some damage," ED said. "Or it just decided to leave. Acting Admiral Rael'Zorah was unsure as to which it was."

"Damage?" Nihlus asked.

"It's bad," Sparatus said, shaking his head. "They've gone from fifty thousand ships to - Amidral Rael'Zorah said they're still trying to figure out losses - about eighteen thousand. Spirits bless, somehow their liveships are mostly undamaged; he estimates that there'll now be a surplus of food, with how much smaller the fleet is."

"We've already agreed to re-task the _Gravitas_ and the attached CF ships escorting it to help with security, cleanup and general relief while larger fleets are scrambled," Captain ED said. "The Citadel Fleet's diverted a few frigates, along with some of our smaller ships, back to Rannoch to assist with the geth refugee effort."

"Spectre Kryik, you will be assisting the _Demeter_ and its crew from this point forward. You _will_ find Nazara, and give the Citadel Fleet, its member's navies, and the Alliance information regarding Nazara's status with respect to repairs and readiness, while everyone shifts to a defensive posture. Is that clear?" Valern said in a steely voice.

"Yes, Councilors."

"Am I free to join Spectre Kryik?" Saren asked.

"Yes," Tevos replied. "Your second objective is to investigate any possible links between the Citadel and Nazara. So far our teams haven't been able to find anything which suggests that Nazara or, goddess help us, its bretheren, can use the Citadel as some sort of rally point or teleportation signal - they're working around the clock but you need to keep an eye out for evidence of such a function."

"Yes, Councilors," Nihlus replied. "Has Captain ED mentioned the-"

"-the...artifact? The one that had mind-altering properties?" Valern said, shaking his head. "Though every part of me wants to dismiss it, yes, she has."

"It's still in my blackout box," KN said, looking at his chest uneasily.

"Councilors," ED said, "the _Demeter_ will need to return the artifact to the Alliance. I understand that it's technically property of the Migrant Fleet, but as far as I'm aware the Systems Alliance is the only nation that has any experience dealing with this sort of technology - and more importantly, the only one with the ability to contain it."

"That's...acceptable," Valern replied uneasily.

"Now that I've had a moment to think about it," Nihlus said slowly, "the admiral in question - damn, I didn't even catch his name-"

"-it's Admiral Huuto'Jaeris," Jane noted.

"Admiral Huuto'Jaeris said he'd picked up this, what's it called, memetic hazard from a batarian ship," Nihlus continued. "It was the size of a paperweight - I have no idea where it comes from, but the only mind-altering tech we've seen is Precursor-based. But as far as we know there aren't any Precursor artifacts in Citadel space, which means either that assumption is wrong, or something else left it there."

"You mean Nazara and its fellow black ships?"

"I won't pretend to know, Councilor. But imagine the worst case scenario - that these things were left by the black ships. What if these things are scattered throughout batarian space? Spirits, what if they're liberally seeded throughout Citadel space in general? I don't know exactly how these artifacts affect people but imagine if it just, I don't know, makes you favour bad decisions? Or it makes you - I'm speculating here - just be less inclined to working together or something? It'd be a small change, but enough to screw with unity and diplomacy on a galactic scale."

"I don't know a whole lot about what we're talking about," Saren noted sombrely, "but if Nihlus - excuse me, Spectre Kryik - is even remotely close to the truth we are in even more trouble than before."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Spectres, I don't know what to say, because the very thought of that theory being remotely correct is terrifying," Sparatus said after a moment.

"But how do we solve it?" KN asked. "Out of the entire _Demeter_ , Jane and I - as far as I'm aware - are the only ones who have scanners for this sort of stuff. Captain ED didn't even have them."

"And if Nihlus' theory is correct," Jane continued, "even imagining that every Pilot and Titan has this software, we can't feasibly run rampant through the galaxy scanning every single city, planet, and station - even if people would be fine with it, which they would rightly not be."

"We're going to have to have a long, difficult talk with some very specific people," Captain ED said. "There's no other solution - and the _Lightspear_ needs to be with us."

"Very well," Herane said after a moment, closing her eyes. "Spectres Kryik and Arterius, I want full reports submitted within the next hour - then get out of here and get to wherever you need to be with the _Demeter_."

"Captain ED, we won't keep you any longer," Valern said. "Ambassador Goyle should be here shortly - and I'm sure you have your own debriefs to submit."

"Thank you, Councilors," ED noted, getting up from her seat.

"Dismissed, Spectres," Sparatus said. "Good luck."

"Captain ED," Nihlus said, as they arrived at the Council Tower's outbound shuttle pads. "I need to go and check on my crew. Raetor managed to save his sister from the _Lestiak_ but both were...badly shaken by the attack." He paused and sighed as Itok shut his eyes, grimaced and clenched his fists. "They're in the hospital."

"A leader has duties. Take however much time you need," ED said softly.

"I'll do my best to be quick."

"I said, Nihlus, take as much time as you need," ED said, staring Nihlus down. "We both need to be at our best. When you're ready - truly ready - come aboard the _Demeter_ and we'll debrief."

"You're right. Thank you. Itok, Saren, let's go."

Jane watched Nihlus and his two companions call a shuttle and leave the Citadel Tower; she followed ED and KN into their own shuttle, and banged a fist into the window next to her.

"Jane?" KN asked.

"I'll be fine," she seethed.

"I'm sorry Jane, but you need to stow that for now. We need to have a chat, KN," ED said, pulling cables from her arm and offering them to KN and Jane. Once both had plugged the cables into ports, ED leaned forward in her chair and spoke over private comm. "Speak freely. Your blackout box. You said it was in your rig. How long has it been there for?"

"Ma'am, I have no idea. I've been using this rig for, uh, nearly seven months. It's the same rig I used when I got posted to the _Demeter_ \- very same one XO Lawson assigned me when I arrived on-ship. I haven't personally done a full teardown with full chassis disassembly - Cortez handles that, and he's only done it, what, twice, maybe?"

"But he never saw fit to mention the purple-silver liquid metal blackout box which neutralizes memetic hazards in the middle of your rig? Is that what you're telling me?" ED asked. "You'll excuse me if I find that a little strange."

"I - no, he never did. And, I mean, I was present via cam or aux body for it, and I never noticed it. It's never shown up under my routine maintenance scans - which I do at least three times a day - and. Oh."

"What?" Jane asked.

"Clearance. We got our Red One clearances modified for sanitized Anomalous Operations info after Harmony, right? It's why you got a specific warning about the artifact and its properties instead of a general evacuation order."

"Do you think that the blackout box option wouldn't have presented itself if you hadn't had the clearance?" ED asked.

"No? Maybe? Shi- I mean, I don't know," KN said, throwing his hands up. "I mean, our programs and modules all assume we're in Alliance-friendly space, right? At least when it comes to the more esoteric stuff, since it assumes we're dealing with Precursor artifacts, not ones left behind by Reapers or something. Without the new clearance I'm sure my HUD would probably have given me a warning and told me to let AO crew handle it."

"Plausible," ED said thoughtfully. "I'm concerned, however, that neither you nor Cortez noticed this blackout box. I'm not surprised that functions and modules in your rig - and your suit, Jane - are classified. That's always been the case. But to literally hide an entire storage compartment inside your rig is something else entirely."

"You think it'd show up if we checked the records?" Jane asked. "Teardowns always get full recordings."

"You'll forgive me for having the feeling that somehow the blackout box won't be in the footage," ED said sourly. "Whether it's static, like the Precursor tablet, or we just...don't notice it, somehow. I appreciate that AO keeps us safe from, ahem, 'weird shit,' if you'll allow me to quote you, Jane, but that doesn't mean I appreciate them installing gear into my crew without my or their knowing it. At this rate, Agent Chao is going to, I don't know, teleport into my quarters while I'm charging tonight and tell me I have a Fold Projector onboard the _Demeter -_ and that we've been doing maintenance on it without knowing."

There was a long pause.

"Ma'am, uh, the more I think about that the less crazy it sounds," KN replied.

"I regret thinking of it. Oh, fuck," ED said, cradling her head in her hands, her whole body shaking. "What sort of shit have I gotten you all in? I signed on to the IS to gather intel, not...hells, I don't know anymore."

"Captain?" KN asked.

ED remained huddled for nearly a minute before sitting up, her expression blank. "I'm sorry - you shouldn't have seen that."

"It's alright, ma'am," Jane said softly. "We signed onto the IS to serve - serve the Alliance, the IS, and you. We're here no matter what."

"I know, Jane. I know." ED sighed, and shut her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again, her expression now one of fiery determination. "Okay. KN, do you have info on what to do with the blackout box? I know that it's secure in there, but you'll forgive me for refusing to believe you're one hundred percent fine with having a... portable cognitohazard sitting inside your chest."

"Ma'am, I am zero percent okay with this situation," KN replied, "but my instructions - this is declassified Red One AO info coming from my rig's base OS - are to, quote, 'under absolutely no circumstances remove the object from the blackout box until a handover to AO or other authorities with Gold One clearance, equivalent, or higher can confirm that it is safe to do otherwise."

"I mean, I don't know anywhere safer to keep the damn thing," Jane said sourly. "I sure as hell don't want it rattling around the ship."

"That'll have to do," ED noted. "We'll need to do a ship-wide debrief, contact Director Harper and have reports waiting for High Command. When Nihlus gets aboard the ship, I want to be ready to debrief so we can get moving ASAP."

The shuttle landed at the _Demeter_ 's bay shortly thereafter; the other four frigates which had been docked nearby were gone, leaving the _Demeter_ alone in its berth. The trio re-boarded the ship via the belly hatch, which lowered once they were outside; they ascended the ramp and entered the ship's hangar. Miranda and Steve were waiting for them, and both saluted as Captain ED nodded at them.

"XO Lawson, with me - we need to inform Director Harper and High Command via QEC. QPS Cortez, you need to speak with Jane and KN about the blackout box and go over some cam footage. Get to work."

"Yes ma'am!"


	35. 7-3: ALL IS SILENT AND CALM

**CHAPTER THREE: "ALL IS SILENT AND CALM..."  
**  
" _Lightspear_ , this is Unity Station Control. Please follow the _Demeter_ into docking bay one zero six; you will be landing inside the Militia-class dreadnought, _Affront_. Confirm, over."

"Unity Station Control, this is _Lightspear_ ," Valtha responded. "Landing in one zero six inside the docked dreadnought."

"Confirmed. Unity Station Control, out."

The _Lightspear_ was just one of thousands of ships coming and going from the Frontier relay; there were massive lines of private cargo ships and transports of various make and model from both the Alliance and Citadel, but the vast majority of the ships around Discovery and Unity Station were massive SAAF warships. Most appeared to simply be patrolling the area, though some were deploying materials and frames for construction, and from the cockpit Nihlus could see humans in EVA suits and binaries assembling a wide variety of structures, everything from new transport docks to hardened orbital defense platforms.

"Spirits," Saren said, whistling. "When did they get the orders to mobilize? I don't think the Council's even made a public statement yet, and I guarantee you the Turian Army's not this ready.

"SAAF is all kinds of nuts," Itok said from the CIC. "Paranoid as shit, sure, but awfully handy what with the giant evil robot spaceship flying around. Still, if Nazara or one of its buddies pops out of the relay and closes in for a knife fight it's gonna be real ugly. Speaking of," he said, as Valtha flew behind the _Demeter_ towards Unity Station via a cleared lane in the traffic, "how are we supposed to find Nazara, anyways?"

"Did you not read the brief we left you?" Saren asked.

"Was busy making sure the ship was running properly," Itok replied. "Raetor used to handle most of the engine work," he said after a pause. "Didn't have time to read it."

"Oh," Nihlus said quietly. "Right."

"Ah, we had a chat with Captain ED before we left," Saren said. "We're gonna head back to Rannoch and start from there - if Nazara's using the relays to get around there's only so many places that would make a good base of operations, especially if it's mining for resources with the heretic geth."

"So...we're flying around without leads?"

"No," Larix said from the gunnery station. "Legion said that the true geth have a bunch of intel isolated on non-networked servers - we're gonna have the _Demeter_ help us look it over.

"Suppose that's better than nothing," Itok noted.

The _Lightspear_ and the _Demeter_ both entered the hangar; the _Affront_ , a massive dreadnought that was at least as large as the _Gravitas_ (though still a fair bit smaller than the Expedition Fleet's _Frontier_ ) was docked inside with its top hatch open.

" _Lightspear_ , this is _Affront,_ " a flat voice said over the comms. "Just park your ship next to the _Demeter_ in the top bay within the marked lines, and we'll help take care of the rest."

Other than the _Demeter_ , the _Affront_ 's top hangar had no ships, and once the _Lightspear_ hand landed and the hangar's clamps had attached to the ship, the comms lit up once again. "Crew of the _Lightspear_ , please lower your ramp and remain on your ship for a moment; an attendant will be with your shortly."

"Understood," Valtha said as she unbuckled herself from her seat. "I'm sorry, I was under the impression we were going to, I don't know, visit Jane's superiors?"

"Who says we're not?" Larix replied.

"I dunno, I thought we were maybe stopping here for a security check or something - confused as to why we're docking inside another ship," Valtha said.

"Wait," Saren said, looking up suddenly, "who are Jane's superiors?"

"They're- wait, Jane's a Pilot attached to an SF team that was under the _Gravitas'_ command, right?" Nihlus said.

"Yeah," Itok noted, "Alliance Joint Special Operations Team, right?"

"I mean, that's what she said her ship had been assigned to," Nihlus noted. "Before that, though, she and her crewmates were on the _Solar_ with the Expedition Fleet."

"Hmm." Saren's expression was thoughtful as the group moved to the _Lightspear_ 's hangar; Larix lowered the hatch and Saren peeked down it for a moment.

"Something wrong?" Larix asked.

"No. I get the feeling that Jane and her crewmates aren't your run-of-the-mill SF folks or part of that, what did you call it? Expedition Fleet?" Saren shrugged.

"That's...you have proof?" Nihlus said slowly.

"No, but if they've been deceiving us, I doubt it's for any sort of malicious purpose, but still. Just a feeling." Saren shrugged again. He was about to continue when a human woman, shorter than Jane and with black hair instead of red and wearing an unmarked SAAF uniform appeared at the bottom of the ramp.

"Spectre Kryik? Am I allowed up there?" the woman asked in a deep, raspy voice.

"Yes?" Nihlus replied. "We were told an attendant would be with us. Exact words."

"Just wanted to make sure." The woman made her way up the ramp and clasped arms with Nihlus, Saren, Itok and Larix. "Agent Nimue Chao, Systems Alliance Internal Security. I'm here to ensure your ship is clear of tracking devices or whatnot, as the coordinates of the location we're going to is strictly classified. Not that I'm accusing you of doing so - it's just a formality. The same's being done with the _Demeter_."

"Honestly? There's nothing on here worth hiding, at least in regards to, you know, tracking devices or wahtever." Nihlus said, gesturing to the rest of the ship. "Spare parts, on-board armoury and storage for our bunks and our general provisions. You're more than welcome to take a look around. Just...if you see a locker labeled 'Raetor's Gear' in the armoury, be very, very careful. The last thing he was working on was called the 'Pilot-Killer' and I think that speaks for itself."

"Fair enough. I heard about what happened, Spectre Kryik, about both the Migrant Fleet and your friend. My condolences."

"It's...it's alright," Nihlus said. "So, what's the plan after you finish your scan?" he asked as Nimue pulled a small handheld scanner from her uniform, pulled a cable out of its grip and plugged it into her neck port.

"The _Affront_ is an Internal Security ship - we're taking the _Demeter_ and your ship to one of our safe-stations where we'll debrief and get everyone up to speed on, ah, matters at hand."

"Matters?" Itok said slowly. "Those matters wouldn't happen to be anomalous in nature, would they?"

"Itok shut u-"

"-no, no it's fine, Spectre Kryik!" Nimue said, bursting out laughing. "Oh, Mr. Kazus, you _are_ perceptive, aren't you."

"Is that a compliment?" Itok's voice was cheerful, but his expression was utterly flat.

"It was," Nimue replied, waving her scanner around the hangar.

"Internal Security," Saren noted dryly, as Nihlus led Nimue and the rest of the group around the ship as she scanned various items. "I'm sure you provide an important service to the Alliance, but isn't the name-"

"-kind of dystopian? Indicative of a mysterious, all-seeing state security force with massive overreach of powers?"

"Not the words I would have used," Saren said. "The title's just very similar to an old Turian government department that was most active during our Unification War."

"Well, I'm aware the name's not a very nice one," Nimue said nonchalantly, "but then again, the work we do isn't very nice either."

"What _do_ you do?" Nihlus asked.

Nimue, evidently satisfied, pulled the cable out from her neck, let it snake back into the scanner and tucked it into her coat. She whirled around and smirked at Nihlus. "As a wise woman once told me: spoilers. Well, everything's looking good here. You're welcome to leave your ship if you'd like, but both your crew and the _Demeter's_ will be confined to this hangar for the duration of our journey. I'm also obliged to remind you that attempting to ascertain our location during or post-jump is strictly forbidden and will be met with force, so on and so forth."

"That's fair. How long will the trip take?" Nihlus asked as Nimue began descending the _Lightspear_ 's belly ramp.

"No more than a few hours," Nimue said, waving as she walked backwards down the ramp. "If you need anything, there's comm units and whatnot in the hangar. I'll be back soon!"

They watched her go, and once she was off the ramp and several seconds had passed Itok scowled. "That woman," Itok said in a low voice, "scares the absolute shit out of me."

"Really?" Saren asked. "I mean, anybody who works for a government division called 'Internal Security' is probably someone to keep an eye on, no matter which government they're working for - and I'm saying that as a Spectre, mind you - but as far as government agents go she seemed nice."

"I dunno about nice," Valtha interjected, coming down from main deck via an emergency ladder. "She was polite. Nice and polite - two very different things."

"I'm with Itok and Valtha," Larix said. "I don't know. She just seems off to me, can't tell you why. Something about her creeps me right the fuck out."

"Well, keep it to yourself, you lot. Last thing we need is to piss off the scary lady who's driving the ship we're on to parts unknown," Nihlus noted. Itok grumbled noncommittally in response; Larix and Valtha shrugged. "Come on, let's go see if the folks on the _Demeter_ got the same impression."

The group descended the ramp to find a hangar whose walls were made of some sort of metallic structure lined with hexagons; the _Demeter_ was parked next to the _Lightspear_ and its belly hatch was down as well. Several of the crew were, Nihlus noticed, carrying on the bizarre tradition of eating a meal on top of the ship; they waved to Nihlus and his companions.

"Hey, Vadim," Nihlus shouted, recognizing the binary on top of the ship who was stuffing a sandwich into his mouth, "can we see Captain ED?"

"Uh, yeah, don't see why not," VD shouted back while still eating. "Just go on in!"

"I wish I could eat and talk at the same time," Itok said.

"You do that all the time," Valtha said.

"I guess."

Nihlus led his companions into the _Demeter_ ; Steve and several other of the _Demeter_ 's crew were doing an inventory check, while Jane and KN were both clambering around KN's Titan chassis performing maintenance. Steve noticed them entering, and waved them over; Jane and KN both looked over and nodded at them before returning to their work.

"Nihlus, Saren, Itok, Larix, Valtha - good to see you all. Can I help you guys?"

"I was wondering if we could see Captain ED," Nihlus asked.

"Afraid not," Steve said, shaking his head. "She and XO Lawson have been cooped in quarters working on reports and debrief papers."

"Is it an emergency?" KN asked as he and Jane both jumped from the top of the Titan cradle to the deck - nearly thirty feet - and landed on the floor with a loud thud. "If it's an emergency we can go and get her for you guys," he said as Jane ushered them closer to the Titan chassis, out of the way of the rest of the hangar crews.

"No, not really," Nihlus replied. "We were just kind of wondering, you know, where we're going. An Internal Security agent told us we're on our way to one of their safe-stations, but that was it."

"Also I wanted to know if it was the same woman and if so is she creepy as shit or what?" Itok interjected.

"Oh, spirits, Itok, I swear-"

"-nah, all fair questions," KN replied, shrugging. "Uh, first point - we're not actually cleared to know where we're going, so I can't help you there. Itok's question, was it Agent Chao?"

"Yeah," Saren said.

"I mean, she doesn't come off creepy or anything, at least not to me," KN said, shrugging. "Gives off that 'don't-screw-with-me' vibe, though."

"Great. Are we done talking shit behind her back now?" Nihlus said, rubbing at his fringe. "It's just bad form, guys."

"Hey, hey, just asking," Itok said, raising his hands.

"Well, we've got time to kill," Nihlus said, staring back out of the _Demeter_ 's ramp. "Maybe I'll go take a nap."

"Screw that. Can I sit in the Titan cockpit?" Itok asked.

Jane looked at KN, who shrugged. "That's fine by me," Jane said, nodding. "You good to climb in?"

Itok looked up at the massive chassis, and nodded. "Uh, onto the foot, then just sorta clamber up and into the cockpit, right?"

"Yeah - it's not too difficult," KN said. "Lots of hand and footholds if you need 'em."

"Cool." Nihlus, Saren and Larix watched as Itok followed KN over to the cradle and began clambering up towards the cockpit; he made it about half a minute later, and eagerly looked inside the cockpit. "Fancy," he said, before sitting inside the chair.

Nihlus watched as the others went over to examine the Titan chassis; Jane simply stood next to him and sighed. "Gotta take your mind off things one way or another."

"It's why I didn't stop him," Nihlus said after a moment.

"Couldn't get Raetor to come? And what about Ultina?"

"No. I thought by the time we'd finished the briefing he'd be, I don't know, feel a bit better? Not sure what I was expecting, to be honest. Went to go check on him before we left - wasn't fighting everyone in sight anymore, sure, but he wasn't ready to go out and fight. Could see it. If it'd been just Rannoch? He'd have been fine. But..."

"Can't say I blame him," Jane said quietly. "More than half his people just...gone. Like that."

"Calmed down, but he looked so... so done. The fact that he was even able to talk to me, be honest that he couldn't bring his best? Takes guts to admit. His sister wasn't so lucky."

"She was a civ, right?"

"Yup. Admin work, shuttle driving and the like. Barely held a gun before. She's...not okay, Jane. At all. Doc told me, prelim reports? Meds and months of counselling, if not more. They had to sedate her when she woke up. Ultina's stayed to keep an eye on'em - Raetor's in rough shape and someone's gotta be around to make sure Jaha's pulling through."

There was a long silence.

"For what it's worth, you have my condolences."

"Thanks. Saren's with us so it's not like it's the absolute worst-case scenario. I just hope that Raetor and every other quarian makes it out of this okay."

Another long pause.

"I- I have something to ask you, Jane."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Saren thinks you're...not who you say you are. As in, that you and the rest of the _Demeter_ aren't JSOT. At least, not just JSOT."

"You're being unusually forward."

"I know. I don't care if you can't give me a straight answer, Jane, honestly. I just - I want - a lot's happened in the past, spirits, it hasn't even been an entire day yet. If anything happens, I want to have at least an inkling as to what's going on."

"I understand, Nihlus. Classified, Nihlus -but trust me - XO Lawson brought the matter up once you'd left. You'll know once we're debriefing with the Internal Security folks."

"Thank you. And this Agent Chao?"

"What about her?"

"Gut instinct. Did you meet her, know of her before now?"

Jane sighed and gave a sad smile. "You've got a good instinct, you know. You'd make a good detective, huh? But, alas, that's classified until we do our debrief. Just want you to know we haven't done any of it out of malicious intent. I promise - and I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. Heh. Saren was right, the old bastard," Nihlus mumbled, watching blankly as Itok, Larix and Valtha fought over who got to sit in the Titan cockpit next.

* * *

Nihlus left a few minutes later - he'd said he needed a nap, and while Jane didn't doubt that he was low on sleep, she had wanted to follow him and tell him to talk to someone about things. She sighed as she watched him descend the _Demeter_ 's ramp, and turned to watch KN activating the post-maintenance weapons cycle test, showing off the massive dual-laser projector mounted on the chassis' shoulders. The demonstration continued for a few more minutes before the _Affront_ 's comms blared to life.

"All personnel, condition one transit prep and stations. Crews of the _Lightspear_ , _Demeter_ , please ensure that you're buckled down and that your ship ramps are up. Stand by for FTL in ten minutes."

"Aww, we were just getting to the good part," KN said, peeking out of the cockpit.

"Shame. Well, we might as well go check on the boss and make sure we don't have anything loose laying around," Larix noted.

"That's our cue, I guess," Itok said sadly. "We'll head on back to _Lightspear_ and shut the ramp."

KN deactivated the cycle test and slid out of the cockpit, sliding back down onto the deck as the cockpit shut behind him. Cortez waited for the last of Nihlus' crew to leave the ship before raising the belly hatch, and both Jane and KN made their way to a nearby set of chairs built into the walls next to KN's cradle before buckling themselves in, KN taking his usual spot closer to the cradle; the other crew either made their way to the upper decks or sat with Cortez near the main terminal.

"Think they needed that," KN said after a moment. "Mmm. Nihlus, though, he looks rough. Could've used a spin in the chassis, I think."

"Captain ED had it rough - can't imagine what it'd be like for him, let alone Raetor and his sister," Jane replied. "Hope Nihlus doesn't mind about the whole IS thing. Be a shame to lose a friend that fast."

"Well, I mean, Captain ED ran it by Director Harper, so that's gotta be worth something."

"Doesn't mean I'm not worried."

"Fair, but personally I think we'll be fine. Nihlus seems like an understanding sorta guy, you know?"

"I suppose," Jane noted. A minute or so later, the comms went off again.

"All personnel, Ark Engines at maximum capacity and standing by for full discharge jump. Capacitors green, two-hundred-sixty jump sequential online, preparing return-to-base protocols. Stand by, FTL in two minutes."

"I'm sorry, did the helmsman just say _two hundred and sixty_ jumps?" Jane blurted. "Oh, great." She hastily pulled a resealable bag out of her chest rig and opened it, taking out four transparent canisters each filled with a small amount of thick green fluid. Jane scanned the labels on the side.  
 _  
Nausea Suppressant, Jump-Induced, Concentrate (Pilot Use). Pilot J. Shepard - issued Dr. K. Chakwas. Consume all fluids one to two minutes before jump. One canister provides relief for fifty-jump sequential. WARNING: NS-C IS DESIGNED ONLY FOR USE WITH PILOT AUGMENTATIONS. Simulated testing shows the following side-effects in non-augmented persons: continuous bowel / urinary movements for up to three minutes, loss of muscle control for up to two minutes, vomiting / nausea, severe stomach cramping and prolonged heartburn.  
_  
Jane grimaced as she popped the canisters open and drained their oddly delicious contents before tossing the canisters into a dump pouch on her chest rig.

"You, uh, gonna be okay? I thought those were only good for up to fifty jumps," KN noted nervously.

"All I have on me," Jane replied.

"Oh" he said, faceplate dimming. "Are you supposed to take four at once?"

"We're about to find out," Jane said sourly, as her HUD lit up. _High intake of foreign chemicals. Medical nanite override available: "Just a reminder to turn off your scrubbers. - Dr. Chakwas" Activate filtering augmentations?_ Jane saccaded the "no" option, and smiled weakly as she felt her stomach rumble slightly. "Nothing like field testing."

"All personnel, stand by for jump. Sixty seconds."

"Hey! Cortez! Heads up - might puke all over your deck again," Jane shouted. Steve closed his eyes and shook his head from across the hangar, where he was strapped into his normal station.

"I mean, if you have to, but I'd prefer you not," Cortez said, shrugging.

"All personnel, jumping in ten, nine, eight, eight, eight, eight-"

Jane swore as the helmsman's voice suddenly stopped; in fact, all sounds, from the soft buzz of the _Affront_ 's engines to the chatter around the hangar had suddenly ceased. "What the - guys?" Jane glanced around; the entire hangar seemed as if it was stuck in time, and her HUD's internal clock was frozen. "Oh, great. This is fantastic," she said quietly to herself.

There was a noise.

 _Thump.  
_  
Again.

 _Thump-thump. _Thump-thump. _Thump-thump. _Thump-thump.___  
_  
The noises began to fall into rhythm, like a heartbeat, or a war march. They continued to beat, and as they grew louder pulses of blue, white and black began to emanate, fading through the hull of the _Demeter_ and passing through solid objects and moving beyond the _Demeter_ 's pulses were speeding up and Jane was about to consider getting out of her seat and attempting to figure out why her suit's classified functions hadn't activated when everything went black. Her HUD suddenly lit up with a flashing warning that disappeared as fast at it had appeared; she did her best to parse the text.

 _WARNING: FOLD INTERFERENCE - MEGIDDO CLASS TYPE S - EMERGENCY SYSTEMS ONLINE_

AUTHORIZATION RED ONE MODIFY ANOMALOUS OPERATIONS SANITIZED TYPE / EXTRACTION DATA SYSTEMS ONLINE ONE SIX SIX / ACTIVATING FLICKER SYSTEMS / ACTIVATING RTI-SHIELD / ACTIVATING HUME NET / [CLASSIFIED] SYSTEMS NOMINAL

REALITY ANCHORS ONLINE / DEPLOYING. CHRONO-STABILIZERS ONLINE / DEPLOYING. HUME NET: ONLINE / READY

FLICKER: YES - SCANNING - TIMELINE ESTABLISHED. _Δ FLICKER DETECTED: 0.16/100_

 _RTI SHIELD: NOMINAL. Θ FACTOR: [CLASSIFIED]. SIMULATION MODELLING 100%. CONVERGENCE READY. ESTIMATED DISPLACEMENT: ACCEPTABLE_

 _ENGAGING EMERGENCY ARK SUIT PROTOCOLS, MAXIMUM IMPULSE MODE. STAND BY._

"Jane?"

"Jane!"

Jane let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding in to find herself buckled into next to KN - and closer to the cradle. She took several deep breaths as her HUD flashed a small green notice.

 _SCANNING: Complete. Safety scans green. Interference no longer detected. [CLASSIFIED.] Please notify Anomalous Operations personnel of the incident as soon as possible._

"Jane, you've just been staring at me for the past, like, minute. Are you fine? Jane?" KN said, increasingly worried.

"I - I think I'm okay," she said, breathing heavily.

"You don't sound okay."

"KN, why am I sitting next to the cradle? You always sit next to it," Jane said in as normal a voice as possible. The hangar was once again full of crew; nobody took notice of KN, who was unbuckled and out of his chair, speaking to Jane.

"What? Yeesh, did the jump and the meds scramble your brain? Check your short-log, you asked me to sit next to it. Said you wanted to change things up."

"Oh." Jane got out of the chair and stared at the cradle, then around the hangar, then at KN. "We, uh, might have a problem."

"Problem? Whaddya mean?" KN asked, faceplate light blinking.

"Weird shit problem," Jane said quietly, and KN's entire chassis froze for a moment.

"Oh. Oh, shit. What happened?"

"Not here - we gotta talk to someone from AO, now," Jane said, walking with KN towards the belly hatch access. "How long was I out for? You said a minute, right?"

"About that, yeah. Helmsman just said that we had a clean jump, and that we're flying towards an Internal Security safe-station on aux power since we drained the whole Ark Engine's capacitors. ETA two minutes to dock."

"Okay. Okay, I can work with that," Jane said as Cortez made his way to the ramp controls.

"Hey, you didn't puke," Cortez noted happily before noticing Jane's concerned expression. "Wait - are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, just in a little pain," Jain said, patting at her stomach.

"You want me to get Dr. Chakwas?" Cortez asked as he lowered the _Demeter_ 's belly ramp.

"No, I'll be alright - just a side-effect of the meds she gave me."

"Well, if you change your mind, you might as well go see the doc," Steve noted as he lowered the ramp.

"Don't think there's gonna be time for that," KN muttered as Steve walked back to his main terminal; Agent Chao had hopped onto the ramp as it was lowering, and by the time the belly ramp had touched the hangar deck she was already halfway up.

"Pilot Shepard, Titan KN," Nimue said, smiling as she approached the pair.

"I need to speak with you," Jane said. "In private."

"I know."

Jane simply shook her head. "Of course you do." Nimue simly smiled, stopping as s he glanced back down the ramp as the comm pinged once more.

"All personnel, docking complete with Internal Security Station Tohu, begin arrival procedures."

Satisfied, Nimue pulled a small wand-shaped device from her coat and waggled it around for a moment before replacing it. "Your suit's not the only piece of tech that can tell when something's gone awry. The initial debrief was going to involve both yourselves," she said, gesturing at Jane and KN, "and both Captain ED and XO Lawson - they've already received the summons."

"Will they be present for your explanations as well?" Jane asked.

"No. Actually, we need to contain things right now. Easier if I don't explain right now, actually. You and KN will come with me now, and someone else will escort the others to the meeting room."

"Well then, Agent, lead the way?" KN asked, and Nimue nodded. They followed her off the ship and into the hangar; Nihlus and Saren were standing just outside of the _Lightspear_ , and they nodded as Nimue shook her head at them. Jane and KN kept walking with Nimue, past the main security hatch and into a long corridor filled with unmarked, sealed security hatches. A few minutes of walking later, Nimue led them through a hatch labeled "External Transfer;" the room contained several benches clustered around an airlock. Nimue sealed the hatch behind her as the airlock opened, revealing a heavily fortified guard post staffed by two soldiers - one, a human wearing a suit that resmebled a bulked-up Pilot Suit, the other a binary installed into a hulking, heavily-armoured rig that was nearly triple KN's size. Behind them were two doors; one, a simple hatch marked "Exit," and another that was labeled "MPSD," and was surrounded by a ring of unlit lights.

"Agent Chao," the massive binary said. "Director K sends her regards."

"Thank you, Agent Manu," Nimue replied. "The conference room?"

"Prepped and ready. We'll need to decon these two."

"Of course. Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, please step forward - it'll just take a moment."

Jane glanced at KN; he nodded back, and the pair stepped forward. The human soldier handed them each a device with four data jacks aligned in a square, attached to a long black tube roughly the length of Jane's forearm. "Into your neck ports," the soldier said.

"I'm sorry," KN said, his tone flat, "I'm not in the habit of plugging unknown devices into my ports."

Nimue sighed. "It's just a test to make sure both of you are clear of r͖̪̠̪̜̪̲͇̟͙͚͕̳̼̪͙͔̻̓ͦͯ͂ͮ̉̿̒̃̽̏̃͂̄̂̚͜͢͞͝e̴̵͓̦̩̱̘̙̯͇͙̼̙̖ͤ͑̉ͫͥ̐͂͒̉̇̅͊̑ͣͥͥͥͫ́ͅş̪̮̤͖̳̲̦͚̜̼̹͋͋̏ͭͦ̾̊̋̆͝iͯ͆ͣͩ̉ͣ̔̓͋̌͌͗̐̄͏̷̴̗̺͍̤̮͇d̸̷̯̤̖̥̲̠̗̩̊̊͗͐̀̃̄ͪ̒ͦ͐͊͂͆̚̚͝ǘ̈̔ͯ͂̏͆̍ͫ͐͋̾ͤ̑͏̧̨̛̹̫̣̘̦ả̴̑ͣͤ́̊̂̔͑ͥ͜͡҉̩̟̻̺͢l̶̜̳̲̲̙̬̝̓ͮ̽̊̈̿̈́́̾̎́ͯ̓͐͗̉̃ͤ͟ ̡͈̬̦͔͕̰͙̼̞̥̟̥̼̪̘́̾̑̇̒̐̌ͥ̑ͣ̑ͫ͠ͅt̵͈͓͍͓͎̪͕̜̘̺̙͕̺̝͎̱̖ͥ̾̒ͮ̏͑̉ͯͥ̈́ͭͧ̕͠ͅi̵̼̝̟̭̣̗̦͎̳̭͔̘̙̫͖͚͗̓̊͋̈́̽m̶̗̩̯̝͙͈̗̜̗͍̺̺̬͚͕̹̦̋ͭͪ̾̃̍̈ͤ͋̃ͯ̈ͣͮ͘̕e͐̃͐͊̈͆̏ͣ̍͂̍͊͂ͤ̋ͬ҉̣̠̬̯̘͔̰̙̺̫͉̗̖͇̻̰̖̥͟͡l̨͔̘̙̝͓̙̣̥̙̬̜ͣͮ̒̋̋̂ͤ̕͜͞͝i̷̡̫̱̤̘͇͔͓̝̖ͩ̽͐̒̇ͤ͋ņ̨̛͎̮͓̤̬̳̩̪̹̣͈̻̈́ͯͨ̌̆͆͐ͧ͒̕͘e̷̵̵̤͕̟̦͎̩͙̝̼̼̮̲̟͙͓͙̺̫̝ͤ̆̃̂̾͋ͦ͆͊͌̚͞ ̷̢͙̜̙̪͓̦̬ͩ̒͗͌ͪ̉̄̓̀ͫ͐̌̓̄́ͬ̅͝͡ͅi͂̆̆ͧ̿ͧ̔ͫ͌̄ͭ̄ͣ̄͌̍̀͏̯̮͎͇̹̜͓̯ͅͅn̢̧̲͈͍̙̐ͦͨͯͮ͋̇͐́͛̐̎̊̽t̢̆̅̅͌̓͋̊ͭͫ̈́҉̼̙̱͇͚͓̪͚̯͔ĕ̵̸̷̮͙͂̓̅̃͒ͦ̍͐̔̔̽̿̓̚͠ͅr̴̵̴͕͕̥̳͚͉͔̤̣̱͔̖͇̲͕͕͇̖͖̄̓̂͠f̵̹̟̯̩ͪ͆̔ͦͥͯ̀e̋ͤͤͭ̀͏̗̺̥͓͚̠͈̝̙̗͓̞͟͞r͍͉̮̦͈̲̪͇̖̝̥̤͂̑ͭ̍́̒̀͌̾̊ͪ̒̉͜͞ȩ̵̨̟̺͓͍̰̼̣͙̙͒ͮͪͬ́͛̎̔̋ͪ̎̾̇͑ͮ͜n̷̵̤̬͎̮̺̼̩̰͈̬̘̥̮͎̏̂͛̓ͭͯ͐̑͠cͬ͂̈́̅ͨ̉̎̐̍̓̿ͪ͆͌ͤͤ̔͡҉̠̜̱͓̻̘̘̦̭͎̰͇̰̹͘͜ͅę̶͎͖͙̦̟̬̤̹̞̹̝̙͈̮̹̣̼͙̒͛̉̉͑͘͠ͅ-"

"-FUCK!" Jane said, crumpling to the floor in pain. "Holy SHIT that hurts," she grunted, panting as she glanced over at KN. "KN! KN, bud, you alright?"

"Stand by," KN said, his chassis ramrod straight. "Re-initializing rig. System check: nominal. Exiting autistic mode." KN glanced around and knelt by Jane. "Whoa, what the hell? You okay? My rig just seized up."

"Wait, what's wrong?" Nimue asked.

"What's wrong? Whatever you just said? My suit says that it tripped - and punched through - my 'anti-memetic barrier' with a 'vocal localized intrusion'," Jane said, shaking her head as she got up. "Listen, Agent, I'm a goddamn Pilot. I have cut my limbs off without anesthetic and been fine. You just - I don't know what you did, but my head feels like it's been run through a blender. I have no idea what your rank is but I think you'd better explain yourself."

"No, no, no," Nimue said, glancing around. "I'm sorry, that shouldn't have happened. This isn't right. Your clearance - what is it?"

"Red One with basic AO clearance," KN said slowly.

"Oh, shit. Agent Yemo," Nimue said to the human soldier, "blackout room, now. Get them inside - I'm going back to get Captain ED and XO Lawson."

"Decon, ma'am?"

"Not as important. Jane, KN, please - I'm asking you - just get into that room and stay there. I promise you I'll explain things in a second but you need to listen to me if you want to stay safe."

Jane and KN looked at each other; KN sighed, and the two nodded slowly.

"Thank you for understanding. Agents," Nimue said as she turned around.

"Ma'am." Manu walked over to a terminal and jacked into it; moments later, the door on his right flickered and a ring of lights lit up around it before it opened to reveal a massive, well-furnished chamber with all-black walls and flooring. "Pilot, Titan, inside. Now."

Jane and KN did as they were told; the door sealed behind them, and Jane simply stared at the door.

"Okay, this is officially weirding me out," KN said, walking over to a nearby couch and sinking into it. "Did you catch what she said?"

"I - ow - think she said, residual timeline...interference. Oh, wow. That...that doesn't sound good. At all," Jane said, her expression despondent.

"Wait, what? What the shit does residual mean? Like, multiple timelines? But we haven't done anything to screw with...time," KN noted, his faceplate dimming. "Have we?"

"Would we know if we did?"

"Fuck's sake, Jane, I signed on to pilot a Titan chassis and fight the good fight. What the hell is going on?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure I want to know," Jane replied, sitting next to KN on the couch.

They sat in silence for another five minutes before the door to the blackout room re-opened; Captain ED, XO Lawson and Agent Chao entered, all looking somewhat concerned.

"Please, have a seat," Nimue said, gesturing at what appeared to be a dining table. Once everyone was seated, Captain ED cleared her throat.

"I understand that you have, in some way, shape, or form, put my Pilot and Titan, who are both the heads of my Combat Team and some of my most trusted and capable crew members in danger," ED said, her voice cool. "Please explain yourself."

"Okay. First of all, let me apologize," Nimue said to Jane and KN. "It wasn't my intention to place either of you in danger - what you experienced was a memetic-backed security filter attached to key words that should only be known by AO personnel, or those with the right clearance."

"Permission to speak freely?" KN asked after a moment.

"As freely as you want, KN - you're more than welcome to be upset, and I won't hold anything against you," Nimue said before ED could respond.

"I'm sorry," Miranda said angrily, "I wasn't aware that you were KN's superior officer."

"I outrank all of you," Nimue said quietly. "I outrank more than ninety-nine percent of people, military or otherwise, in the entire Systems Alliance, and I'm not even halfway up the the Anomalous Operations chain of command. That's not me bragging or trying to lord my status over you, understand - I'm trying to make a point about the seriousness of what I and the rest of AO deal with on a daily basis."

Captain ED leaned forward and opened her mouth, but said nothing, and leaned back in her chair.

"Okay, I'm good to talk now?" KN said, doing his best to stay calm. "Are you fucking serious? You have a memetic filter - as in, the same shit we encountered on Kena that damn-near slushed my partner's brain, and the whole goddamn reason why we're here - like, because of the artifact thing we ran into? The one, I might add, that is STILL sitting inside my rig," KN said, pointing to his chest, "inside a compartment that I _literally_ had no idea was inside until two seconds after I encountered the artifact? Despite the fact that QPS Cortez and I broke my rig down to the goddamn bolts? I'm sorry, that is some serious fu-"

"-Kenneth," Jane said, putting a hand on KN's leg.

KN stopped, his faceplate flaring, before letting out a long burst of binary chatter. "Look, I'm not going to lie, I get the feeling we - that's all of us in this room besides you, Agent Chao, are getting screwed around with, and I _really_ don't like that."

"That's understandable, and in your position I'm sure I'd feel the same way," Nimue noted. "Where should I start?"

"I don't know," Jane said warily, "I'm not the one who can apparently cripple Pilots just by talking."

"Okay, fair enough." Nimue looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded. "So. Jane, recall that you extracted the core of an Ark Engine three years ago on Iris?"

"Yes," Jane noted. "Well, no, but people have explained it to me several times. I do remember that the ship involved had crashed into a Precursor artifact that was giving off serious Fold interference."

"Right. First: all of you first need to - okay, no, from the top." Nimue sighed. "Anomalous Operations deals with instabilities and threats posed to the Systems Alliance via the application of exotic and esoteric technology which allows us to manipulate space and time."

"I - we, I'm sure as well - inferred as much," Captain ED noted dryly.

"Alright. All of you are going to have you clearances upgraded - not all the way to par with my own, because there's information out there you aren't ready for physically, but you're about to receive more or less the same modified clearance that, say, Director Harper has." Nimue paused. "People have mentioned that the procedures is...uncomfortable, at best."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jane asked.

"You're about to receive Red One clearance with basic _Khronos_ authorization," Nimue replied. "Unlike the colour-number system the rest of the Alliance uses, Anomalous Operations - that's all of the division, not just the one I'm in - doesn't utilize the usual system of nanomachine-biometrics or uplinked authorization that usually is used to grant clearance." She paused, and closed her eyes. "We use memetic clearance triggers."

The room went silent.

"What." Jane blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Our clearance is passed through memetic technology. It's a fail-proof system: I _literally_ cannot hand out the clearance if I'm under duress or in anyway not one-hundred-percent okay with it, and it is equally impossible to extract the information from me. The trigger will wipe itself from my mind - or kill me, if need be - before that happens."

"We are talking about the same memetic technology," Miranda noted, "that we just found a few months ago on Kena? The kind that we can't study because it's impossible to read? On the Precursor tablets?"

"Yes. We've had the technology since twenty-six years from now. My tenses are not wrong."

The room went silent again.

"Surely," ED said calmly despite her panicked expression, "you don't mean to imply-"

"-you, all of you, understand exactly what I'm implying. But I can't spell it out for you without the clearance. Alternatively, we roll back your memories to before this, and Jane stays with AO for the next while until we...sort her issues out."

"Not an option," Jane said.

"Understood. Are you all ready?"

"No," KN said, "but let's get it over with."

"Alright." Nimue cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and when she opened her mouth again her voice was layered, echoing and warbling in a way that was distinctly unnatural. Jane's skull pounded and throbbed as Nimue spoke, and her body shivered and shuddered as though she were being pricked with needles and doused in cold water. "Removing restrictions; lowering barrier count, positive one hundred percent to positive fifty-six percent. Memetic engine online. Agent Nimue Chao, authorization accepted, transfer request granted. Scans green. Transmission type: anti-personnel. Ammunition: memetic clearance trigger: Red One, sub-type Khronos Basic. Infection vector: sonic. Viral load: maximum. Targeting: radial, localized, four targets."

Jane looked at KN, and KN dimmed his lights in what she knew was fear.

"Memetic engine at maximum capacity. Dispersal systems online and ready. Authorization code: St̷an̕d͘ w̴i̴t̕h me̵ ҉on t͞he ͏bo͞rd͘er̡ of͞ t̕he pla͢cé wher͠e͏ ̨ti͜m͡e ͜d͏o͢e͞s ͘a͘n͢d doe̢s not e͘x̀is͟t. Accepted. Transmission online in three, two, one-"

Jane's vision exploded into light and black and silver and blue, and for a singular moment in time she simply was, and was not.

She opened her eyes to see Nimue and the others looking at her, worried.

"Jane? Oh, fuck, I thought you were gone for good," KN said, faceplate flickering.

Jane blinked a few times. "It's okay, Kenneth - I'm good, I'm good." Nimue eased her to her feet, and she flinched, taking a half-step back from Nimue.

* * *

 _She paused for a moment, then smirked. "Next time we meet, let me know if you remember this part of our conversation - just a little thing we agents do for fun."_

* * *

"You - you said - how the fuck?"

"What's wrong, Jane?" Nimue asked.

"You said something to me - asked me if I'd remember 'this part of our conversation' on Harmony. But I just - no, I've known all along - but now I remember." Jane shook her head slowly.

"A test," Nimue said, smiling sadly. "You passed. I'm sorry."

"What."

"Never mind that for now. How are all of you feeling?" Nimue asked, as she and Jane returned to the dining table.

"Terrible," Captain ED said, rubbing her face. "I'm fine now but for a second my systems were absolutely convinced I was being killed via a lethal intrusion countermeasure - and that my memory banks were being scrambled."

"Same," KN noted sourly. "Before your security override kicked in, Agent Chao, my suit was damn near ready to salvage what it could of my programming and eject it from my rig."

"I'm alive," Jane noted after a moment. "But for a second? I felt...I don't know. Not alive, but not dead."

"Welcome back, then," Nimue replied. "You had a quick visit to the Spacetime Boundary. Don't ask. Not yet."

"Okay," Jane said, expression utterly blank. "So, uh, do we get an explanation as to _what in the actual fuck_ is going on here? And what's happened to me?"

"We start with the foundation knowledge - keep in mind that, while I'm not giving you the whole picture, this is essentially the same information that, say, Director Harper has. While I ask that you do your best remain calm, please understand that feelings of panic and dread are normal responses." Nimue cleared her throat, and took a deep breath. "The entire galaxy - and, if we extrapolate from our current situation, the universe - faces an existential threat from something. I'm not being vague, I'm being specific. Something destroys all life, synthetic, organic or otherwise in the entire galaxy - Citadel, Systems Alliance and everything in between - in the future."

"How long do we have?" Jane whispered.

"It changes. The first iteration of the event happened in 465 Freeport; the longest iteration, which was last cycle, made it to 960 FP."

The room was dead silent save for the heavy breathing from everyone besides Nimue.

"This iteration," Nimue continued after a moment, "our goal is to make it to 1000 FP. We were on track, but something's gone wrong. Jan-"

"-no, no, you don't just get to skip over this," Miranda said in a near shout. "So we're going to - no, fucking hells, we've already been wiped out by whatever this threat is? You said iterations, Nimue, explain. Now, dammnit!"

"To the best of our knowledge, we're on iteration two thousand, six hundred fifty-six." Nimue shrugged. "We have devices that allow us to send, well, things - I'm not cleared to know what - back beyond our normal limitations of time travel without piggybacking off temporal anomalies, Ark Engine destabilization or the like. I'm not cleared to know when - what date - these things are sent back to, but I've been told we have it down to a science. Director K says that, from information reception to returning operations to maximum capacity it takes about three years, down from the original of a century."

"Okay," Jane said, falling into the survival-crisis mode of thought she'd learned in Pilot School. "The threat - what is it? What are our combat options?"

"In any other situation you'd be on the right track. The problem is that the threat _changes_. Sometimes it's the black ships - the Reapers - that, in one way or another, manage to wipe everyone out, whether through subterfuge and sabotage, or an all-out invasion. There are, to my knowledge - and from my clearance - one-hundred fifteen baseline threats, though only thirty-two have occurred more than twice. This is besides the point - for now, all evidence points to it being the Reapers that are the threat this round." Nimue shook her head. "I understand this is...difficult to hear, but we've survived this long by staying calm, formulating plans and fighting as best we can."

"You're just asking us to casually ignore the fact that we have faced total extinction of life and civilization more than two-thousand times?" ED said in disbelief.

"Not ignore, accept. Director K has a saying: 'The sacrifices made by those before us - by ourselves, in many cases - are the ammunition we will use to defeat the threat before us,' and I am inclined to agree. " Nimue smiled weakly. "First line of the Alliance Oath to Service, remember? 'I pledge my service to the Systems Alliance, in life or in death.' Survival was the goal of the Frontier Militia, and survival is the goal of the Systems Alliance. Nothing else matters. Once you accept that, things become much easier to deal with."

More silence; Miranda got up and paced back and forth before gritting her teeth and sitting back down.

"Alright. So we're fighting the Reapers this time," Jane said, her voice flat and cold. "I need to know what's wrong with me, so I can get back out there and fight."

"That's the attitude," Nimue said, patting Jane on the shoulder. "The problem is that the systems used to anchor you in time and space built into your Pilot Suit weren't enough. Enough to handle an Ark Engine core at close range, and also enough to handle interference from one of the largest Fold artifacts we've ever come across - but not both at the same time, let alone with the ship crashed into the artifact itself. You're, to simplify things a bit, slightly unstuck in time and space. This doesn't normally pose a problem - remember the briefing? The universe likes order and stability. But Ark Engines? Those are mass-produced middle-fingers to the way physics, time, and space are supposed to work. Again, by itself, not a problem."

"But that combined with Jane's...I don't know, loosening, I guess," KN said, nodding, "is enough to cause issues when we use FTL. But how? Her body was regenerated and her suit destroyed after her body was recovered."

"Classified beyond my level, and probably beyond my comprehension, to be honest," Nimue said, shaking her head.

"Okay, fine, but there's got to be a solution," Jane said, still in crisis mode. "You've - we've - been through two thousand, fuck, cycles of this."

"Correct. The two of you are very perceptive," Nimue noted. "Without a fix, eventually, Jane, you'd simply fail to exist properly."

"I would prefer that not happen," Jane noted. "What happened to me? My suit kicked in - I was cleared to notice a 'Flicker' system, an 'RTI-Shield' and a 'Hume Net-' and it said that the displacement was acceptable. All I know is that pre-jump I was sitting on the left of KN, and when I woke up I was on the right - which never happens. We don't sit like that, ever."

"Flicker is a system designed to detect a shift in your position out of normal space-time," Nimue answered calmly. "Once it notices a deviation from normal parameters - that's the flicker delta number - it establishes a method to drop you back into normal space and time. Of course, it's not perfect - recall that in the briefing I gave you, you can only do so much to time and space before it resets, and even when it does things are liable to not fit back together just right. So, displacement. An acceptable displacement is, well, acceptable - where details of time before the displacement aren't different enough to matter."

"So Jane's suit deemed changing which seat she was in acceptable," ED said, shaking her head. "Do I want to know what an unacceptable displacement is?"

"No. Anyways, the RTI stands for 'Residual Timeline Interference,' a fancy way of saying that the shield protects you from having brain damage by trying to remember two sets of history, hence why you remember sitting in your normal seat, and not in the other one. And the Hume Net, well, the details are classified but from my understanding it's just another safety system that stops you from being blasted into pieces while your suit does its work."

"Great. So I'm here and in once piece without brain damage. How do I fix my situation?" Jane asked.

"Which is why we're in here. Blackout room," Nimue explained.

"I noticed the sign on the door," ED asked. "MPSD?"

"Multi-Purpose Solitary Dimension. No, I don't know what that means or how it works. What I do know is that this is the safest place to, for lack of a better term, reset your position in space-time."

"How long does it take?"

"Seconds." Nimue pulled one of the devices she'd tried to get her and KN to use earlier out of her coat, only this one was red instead of black and had six prongs instead of four. "Jack in, and it'll reset your...situation to normal, at least for a while."

Jane took the device without a word, and slammed it into her neck ports.

The second the device locked into her neck ports, Jane's HUD exploded in a furious barrage of windows, command lines, readouts and reboots; she blinked several times as her HUD cleared up a fraction of a second later, and a small message flashed slowly on her HUD.

 _Anchor Payload Received. Systems check: nominal. Payload charge priming, standby. Active. Initiating space-time connection test.  
_  
Jane flinched as her whole body pulsed and glowed a soft blue-white for several seconds before fading away. As the light dimmed, the device in her neck hissed, and the red tube popped out of the base of the device, and as Jane whirled around to catch it her HUD flashed a green light next to another readout.

 _Connection stable and holding. Flicker risk: negligible. Anchor stability: 100%. It is now safe to remove the base block from your ports. Please dispose of the Anchor Payload in a safe manner, and take the time to return the base block to its proper recycling facility for sanitation and re-use. Remember, haste makes waste.  
_  
"It's done," Jane said, pulling the block from her neck and handing both items back to Nimue. The agent pulled a small, silver bag from her coat, and placed both the block and the tube inside before sealing the bag and placing it into a nearby wall-mounted container. "Before we get back to the previous topic," Jane said, tone flat, "your original thing about the 'resdiual timeline interference.' You were surprised I wasn't cleared for it. Why?"

Nimue tapped the dining table for a few moments before responding. "Almost all of the things - information, intel, whatever - that gets sent back when the galaxy is on the verge of collapse, as far as I'm aware, doesn't go into specifics about people's lives. Rather, it covers key points, events that we want to have happen and what not - not direct info, but rather the...hints we need to nudge things into the right order."

"You don't want to risk changing things," ED said, "at least, changing variables you can control."

"That's the idea, yes. An example from one of my teachers: in an earlier timeline, we didn't discover the Frontier relay, and by extension, the Citadel races - either at all, or until it was too late. Armed with that knowledge, we could, for example, plant the ideas, put the right people in the right place at the right time to ensure that they ended up there."

"Why not just tell the EF that you guys found something out there?" KN asked.

"Controlling variables, like Captain ED said. If all our info is based on the EF finding the relay 'on their own,' so to speak, us telling them where it is outright changes things dramatically."

"You haven't explained how this applies to me," Jane noted. "Unless you're going to tell me that you've been watching me as part of this plan, and that my whole life has been laid out for me?"

"No, nothing like that. I can't share everything, of course, but part of our packet - the parts I'm allowed to read - stated that the Captain, XO, lead Pilot and lead Titan of an Intelligence Services ship working with the Citadel should already have been contacted by one of our own - one Agent Kaiden Alenko." Nimue sighed. "Clearly, that hasn't happened yet, which means that something's happened to throw off the information we're working from. Nor was your being unstuck from space-time accounted for, Jane."

"And this means...?" Miranda asked.

"I haven't the faintest idea." Nimue shrugged. "In the grand scheme of things, this probably doesn't matter as much as it might seem. Your mission is still the same - figure out what the Reapers are up to, stop Cerberus from producing working portable temporal destabilizers-"

"-wait," Jane interjected. "Cerberus. Surely you have more information on them than 'mysterious terrorist group.' And the Reapers, too. We need every advantage we can get, Agent."

Nimue sighed. "I'm going out on a limb here and telling you information that, while not classified, isn't exactly supposed to be handed out. Please be aware that if this information spreads, I will hold you - all of you - accountable and you can expect punishment on an unprecedented scale. Though, of course," Nimue noted dryly, "that threat applies to everything I've told you so far, doesn't it? Anyways, in one or two iterations - I'm not cleared to know which ones - Cerberus was an arm of Anomalous Operations used to harden installations or draw attention to specific locations. However, I can say that from the records I can access, that hasn't been the case for ninety-nine percent of iterations."

"Oh, hells. Don't tell me," KN pleaded. "Cerberus changes too?"

"Correct. IMC holdouts, bog-standard terror group - well, you're not cleared to know the rest. But rest assured that, in the vast majority of iterations, we _still_ have no idea what Cerberus wants, and who comprises their command structure."

The room was deathly silent for a minute; Nimue watched as the others shook their heads in outright horror.

Nimue shrugged. "Again, it's best not to dwell on these things. Just makes life difficult. Your mission, like I stated, remains unchanged - although if you do run into an Agent Alenko, please give him my regards and ask him what the hell is going on. Of course, this information - for now, at least - is strictly limited to yourselves; when we bring in Spectres Kryik and Arterius I hope you'll understand that we won't be deceiving them out of spite or cruelty. AO's plan for this line of events is already off-balance, and we need to try and get it back on track."

"So we just...carry on," Captain ED said slowly. "What are you and the other Internal Security people planning on in terms of briefings?"

"Well, compared to our previous discussions, it's actually nice and easy. The Reapers, clearly, posses memetic agents of varying power and influence; they're not exactly the same as Precursor memetic agents, but they're close enough that the inoculation that we've developed will work for everyone. We have both memetic payloads capable of being installed via data-jack, and portable devices that can be easily carried on one's person." Nimue nodded to herself for a moment before continuing. "Obviously the timeline not being standard means we'll have to accelerate certain plans, but it's nothing that will change the overt goals of your mission."

"And what? We're just supposed to pretend that we haven't just heard that the galaxy's life is all going to be wiped out in a few centuries?" Miranda whispered, shaking her head.

"It's already happened more than two thousand times, and we're still here," Nimue replied, smiling weakly. "Your job is to make sure that, if we don't win this round, that we're ready to try again next time."


	36. HUSHED AND EMPTY IS THE WOMB OF THE SKY

**CHAPTER FOUR: "...HUSHED AND EMPTY IS THE WOMB OF THE SKY"  
**  
A few hours later, Jane watched as Nihlus and Saren were escorted into a meeting room aboard Tohu station proper by Nimue's two assistants, Manu and Yemo; both looked understandably wary at both their heavily-armed and armoured escorts and Agent Chao, who was sitting at the front of the room with that same smile which seemed to be her resting expression.

"Please, have a seat," Nimue said, gesturing at the table and waiting for the two Spectres to sit. "I must apologize for the delay; there were some unexpected problems that came up on arrival which I had to take care of."

"Anything we should be worried about?" Saren asked, tone inquisitive.

"Not really, no. In any case, we needed you here to discuss the threat posed by the reapers," Nimue said with a shrug, "but I do believe that you two had some questions regarding the status and affiliation of the _Demeter_ ; I or Captain ED would be happy to clear things up and answer any questions you may have. Within reason, of course."

"Forgive me for being blunt, then," Saren stated plainly. "But the _Demeter_ 's not just any run-of-the-mill special forces-use ship, no?"

"No, it's not," Captain ED replied, shaking her head. "We're technically on loan, for lack of a better term, from the Systems Alliance Intelligence Services. We're not engaged in espionage or anything of the sort - not that I would fault you for failing to believe me."

Nihlus looked thoughtful. "But you are from an organization which has espionage as one of its primary functions."

Captain ED nodded slowly. "That's correct. We have been, however, under strict orders to simply file reports about what we encounter and our thoughts on them, which I'm sure both sides of this equation are doing regardless," ED noted. "Our mission parameters expressly forbid doing anything illegal or carrying out any action which could be taken in bad faith as evidence of spying or accessing data we shouldn't."

"Except, of course, failing to mention that you're technically spies?" Saren noted. "Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude - and while I'm willing to believe you at face value, I can imagine that there are a lot of people in Citadel space, civilian, and politicians alike, who won't be so forgiving."

"Simply being part of an intelligence organization does not automatically make someone a spy," Nimue said.

"We have extensive records showing that all we've done is write reports about what we've seen," ED continued. "That's it."

Nihlus shrugged. "Honestly that's not so bad - I guarantee you the Citadel's members have been doing their best to carry out espionage operations in Alliance territory, and I'd be damn near offended if the Alliance wasn't doing the same to the Citadel. Just good practice. But I'm more than happy to accept your word, Captain ED, that the _Demeter_ 's not been involved in anything shady."

"A lie of omission is still a lie," Miranda stated. "We're grateful that you're willing to forgive us for the deception."

"No problem. Understand that I will have to explain this to my superiors, though."

"Of course," ED replied. "We understand."

"I'm sure I can spin it fairly positively, and you have my word I'll do my best to smooth things over," Nihlus said, nodding.

"Intelligence Services ships just being, like you said, on loan," Saren offered. "For their expertise in record-keeping and observation. I think that's fair - no harm done. No offense, Agent Chao, but I was worried that they were part of your organization. Compared to that, this is just fine."

"None taken. I don't imagine Internal Security or its equivalent are popular anywhere in the galaxy," Nimue noted. "In any case, with that out of the way, we have more important matters to discuss."

"Right. The 'Reapers,' as Pilot Shepard says," Saren said. "And the artifact that KN here picked up."

"Correct. There's not much to say in terms of the Reapers, I'm afraid - we'll be relying on Legion and the geth database on Rannoch to come up with leads to follow. As for the artifact, we've already moved it to a secure location for study and containment," Nimue replied. "We have countermeasures - the same sort that Pilot Shepard and Titan KN have - available to distribute, as well."

"Will it require us - that being myself and the rest of the _Lightspear_ 's crew - to have data ports?" Saren asked.

"Keep in mind, too, my port's only one-way," Nihlus noted.

"The equipment has two components - first, a combination shield-sensor which will alert you to the memetic hazards while protecting you from their effects," Nimue said. "Second, containers that will let you, well, contain artifacts safely for transport. Anyone can carry around one of the containers, and as for the shield-sensor unit there's a portable one that can be worn, and one that requires a two-way data port and a nanite injection."

Nihlus frowned. "Is there an appreciable difference between the portable unit and the, ah, installed one?"

"Performance-wise, no - both require no external power and function exactly the same. Of course, the portable unit can be lost, dropped or destroyed," Nimue replied.

"The portable units will have to do for now," Saren said. "Next time we're on the Citadel with time to spare, hopefully medical tech will have jumped far enough ahead that we can all get safe data port installs."

"Very well," Nimue said after a moment. "The units are fairly small - they can be installed into any set of clothes with minimal bulk, or integrated into armour without any issues."

"What about widespread distribution, at least of the sensor package?" Nihlus asked.

"Internal Security's R&D teams are working on that as we speak. In the mean time, we'll have to check things as we go," Jane said, "and hope for the best."

"Huh. Well, it's better than nothing," Nihlus said as Saren shrugged.

"Alright. We'll adjourn for now, then do a proper debrief for everyone - full crews of the _Demeter_ and your companions aboard the _Lightspear_ ," Nimue said, "where we'll introduce the basics of artifact handling and go over operation of the shield-sensor units. It shouldn't take too long - our goal is to have you guys back out into the field by early tomorrow. Grab something to eat, speak with your crew - I'm sure there's plenty to discuss - and take a break. I'll return to the main hangar in, say, two hours."

"Sounds good," Nihlus said, getting up.

"Agent Manu, Agent Yemo, please escort everyone back to the hangar while I debrief with the brass."

"Ma'am," both said in unison. They escorted the group out of the conference room, through the station's empty, spartan corrdidors and back to the security tube now attached to the _Affront_ 's top hangar; once everyone was back inside the hangar, Nimue's assistants simply nodded before sealing the doors. Jane and KN were about to follow Miranda and ED back up the ramp into the _Demeter_ when Nihlus called out.

"Hey, Jane, KN, one sec," he said.

"It's alright," Captain ED noted. "Just meet back in my quarters," she said as she and Miranda left the pair with Nihlus and Saren.

"What's up?" KN asked.

"Just wanted to thank you for, I mean, not coming clean, because that sounds pretty terrible," Nihlus said, rubbing at his fringe. "You know what I mean. Just wanted to say I don't hold anything against you for hiding stuff from me - I know we've all got brass to report to and info to keep classified. But as long as it doesn't get in the way of the mission, it's all good, right?"

"Yeah," Jane said, putting on her most charming smile. "All good, Nihlus. All good."

* * *

 **FEBRUARY 1ST**

The trip to Rannoch had only taken a day; both ships had landed at the same port they'd docked at previously, and Red had met the crews of both ships just outside in the spaceport. Red had handed over several OSDs containing all the information the true geth thought pertinent, and less than three hours later both ships were back in space and on their way back to the Citadel. The _Demeter_ and _Lightspear_ arrived just past midnight, and once they docked Nihlus and Saren met Captain ED just outside the _Demeter_ 's ramp.

"We need to go and brief Ambassador Goyle and speak with our superiors; we'll be using the Consulate's QEC units," ED said.

"Should we go on ahead to the Council?" Saren asked. "I assume Ambassador Goyle - and yourselves - will be meeting with them to discuss the intel we got from the true geth regardless."

"True, but it might be worth getting them up to speed anyways," Nihlus noted.

"Sounds good to me," Jane said. "If you guys are done before we're finished with our debrief just comm us and we'll go from there."

"Got it," Nihlus replied.

They all walked together to the same transit pad, and nodded at one another as Nihlus and Saren took their own shuttle to the Citadel Tower; Jane and KN followed ED and Miranda into their vehicle and arrived at the Presidium Embassies not long later. The area was fairly empty, and nobody paid the group of four any mind as they entered the Alliance Consulate. An embassy worker quickly escorted them into Ambassador Goyle's office; Anita and her assistant, Julia, were both seated at their desks, and about a dozen QEC units were active. Jane immediately recognized holograms of Director Harper and Defense Minister Hackett; she was vaguely aware of the others as prominent political figures and high-ranking members of SAAF High Command.

"Ah, one moment, please," Anita said. "The Captain, XO and CT from the _Demeter_ have arrived. Captain ED and others, please, have a seat," she said, gesturing at a set of chairs set up by her desk, "and we'll get to business." Once they'd sat down, Director Harper's hologram lit up, and he smiled at the assembled group.

"Captain, XO, Pilot and Titan. Welcome back. It is, as usual, good to see you safe and sound. We were discussing the Alliance's information release and impending mobilization order," Jack said, fiddling idly with a kretek, "and I believe it'd be best to get you up to speed."

"Thank you, Director," Captain ED said, nodding.

"Two things," Minister Hackett noted. "The information release is fairly straightforward; most of it's just the information Legion, Prime and the rest of the true geth gave us, slightly polished up for a proper media release. In addition, the Alliance Parliament has recognized the threat posed by the Reapers and their so-called cycle; the Alliance-wide combat readiness status has been raised from Shield Yellow to Handgun Red. SAAF is mustering to combat positions, Militia reserves up to tier six are being called in, shipyards are moving to eighty-percent capacity and manuctories are ramping up for full armament. We're still negotiating with the Council regarding what sort of assets - above what we currently have - can be stationed in Citadel space."

"In addition," one of the binaries that Jane didn't recognize said, "please give our thanks to Legion and the true geth. While the geth refugees have been helpful the information provided by the true geth has been indispensable; I know neither the SAAF or the Citadel has much in the way of combat data regarding the geth, and we're working on building combat doctrine from scratch." The binary paused, then cleared its throat. "Ah, apologies - Colonel AX, Alex, SAAF, Combat Doctrine and Tactics."

"We'll do that, Colonel," ED noted.

"If that's all, then," Julia said, looking down at one of the dataslates on her desk, "we'll proceed to debrief the tactical data obtained yesterday by the _Demeter_ and _Lightspear._ "

"Thank you, Julia," Captain ED stated. She pulled a cable from her arm and jacked into the desk's private control unit; a hologram of several star systems, planets and structures of geth make appeared in the centre of the room. "The following information was provided by the true geth with a warning - that this intel is based primarily on speculation. While we see no reason to doubt the trustworthiness of the true geth, by their own admission these are estimations and suppositions, based on historical data and standard geth combat parameters. Nazara and the heretic geth have already proven themselves fully capable of tactics the regular geth would find odd or at least out of character - as Nazara's subversion of the true geth and its attack on the Migrant Fleet has shown. Keeping all of this in mind, here is the information the geth have shown us."

"System scans taken by both the true geth, SAAF ships and members of the Citadel Fleet have shown that the Tikkun system is most likely clear of heretic forces, though of course there is a risk that Nazara-aligned forces have been hidden on the surface of the system's planets," Miranda continued. "Logically, however, Nazara's current goal - construction of additional heretic platforms and ships, as well as a general increase in projection ability by the Reaper-aligned forces - leaves a few optimal positions for strongholds, supply lines and construction yards. The locations the true geth believe to be the most likely staging grounds for Nazara and its allies are in the Far Rim, which contains two systems - Dholen and Amata."

"Dholen used to have mining operations on the planet Gotha, helium refineries based in orbit around Charoum, and several massive construction yards on and around Haestrom; Amata has only one planet, Ammat, but prior to the civil war it was home to several fuel extraction sites and another construction yard," Jane noted. "It'd make sense for Nazara to utilize as much preexisting infrastructure to jump-start its rearmament efforts; in addition, the Far Rim relay provides connections to several other systems while offering only one way in. It is the belief of the _Demeter_ 's and _Lightspear_ 's crews that the Far Rim houses Nazara and its forces."

There was a long silence; several of the officials attending by QEC conferred with off-screen assistants or took notes on dataslates. Almost a full minute later, it was Minister Hackett who spoke first.

"Thank you for the information. Rest assured, the SAAF and Alliance will use this knowledge."

"I'll be meeting with the Council shortly," Anita continued. "You four are dismissed for the time being; I recommend you and the rest of the _Demeter_ 's crew get some much-needed rest while we decide on a next course of action." Ambassador Goyle gestured to the door, and Julia escorted Jane and the three others out of the room.

About an hour later, Anita Goyle leaned back in her chair as the QEC units deactivated, leaving her office feeling conspicuously empty. She sighed, picked up the coffee cup on her desk that she knew was empty, and set it back down on the desk before closing her eyes. "Julia, please inform the Council that, if they are available, that I'd like to meet to discuss the Alliance's information release about the Reapers, amongst other things."

"Of course, ma'am. One moment." Julia turned to the side and her eyes lit up for just under two minutes; when she turned back to Anita her expression was distinctly displeased. "They're ready to see you now, actually."

"What's the matter, Julia?" Anita asked, smirking. "Not relishing the thought of another meeting?"

"Anita, it is three-thirty in the morning. You haven't slept for more than five hours a night for nearly a month, I haven't had a proper rest-recharge cycle in weeks, and we've both been running time dilation far beyond recommended limits. All I want is to find a nice drinking establishment, sink into a comfy chair and drink heavily while recharging for at least two straight days," Julia groused.

"Okay, Jules, and I want to be queen of the universe, but that's not happening either." Anita shrugged. "I mean, I'm not happy about it either, you know."

Julia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Work is its own reward, or something like that, right?"

"Precisely." Anita got out of her chair and stretched her arms before yawning. "Alright, let's get a move on." The two left Anita's office and made their way downstairs; the night-morning shift staff were all at their posts, talking amongst themselves across the consulate floor, and all fell silent as they noticed Anita coming down the stairs.

"Oh, there's no need to put on your serious faces," Anita said as Julia followed her down to the main floor. "It's not like anyone's in here right now anyways. Tristan," she said, addressing the binary at the front desk, "we'll need you to hold down the fort."

"Of course, Ambassador Goyle," the binary said, with a deep bow. "My pleasure."

"I expect to find the Consulate in tip-top shape when I return," Anita said, addressing the staff as she and Julia made their way to the entrance. "No pillow-fights, don't drink too much pop, et cetera."

"Yes, mom," someone in the back said.

Anita chuckled and waved as she and Julia exited the building and walked over to the shuttle terminal; a quick ride later, they were at the top of the Citadel Tower. The small smattering of guards posted recognized the two, and after clearing their security scans they were directed into the chambers behind the man Council Hall. The two entered the usual meeting room to find all three Councilors discussing something; all stood and walked over to greet them, clasping arms and shaking hands.

"Ahh, Ambassador Goyle, Secretary Julia," Herane said with a smile. "Thank you for your prompt arrival."

"It's no problem - we just finished a meeting of our own," Anita replied. They all sat back down, and Anita pulled an OSD and three collapsible dataslates from her coat. "I understand you wished to discuss the Alliance's information release, as well as some matters regarding the SAAF's deployment in Citadel space."

"That's correct," Valern noted. "Secretary JL confirmed that the release will be happening later today?"

"Indeed," Anita replied, handing the OSD and slates over. "The full text is on there; there will be other broadcasts and alerts, but the tone and content of those will be informed by the release itself."

The three Councilors took the slates and read them; a few minutes later, Sparatus looked up.

"While the content of this text is in line with the information we intend to release today," Sparatus said slowly, "I must say that the...tone of the text is quite a bit more aggressive than I had anticipated."

Anita shrugged. "The Systems Alliance's culture is a, for the most part, a peaceful one - but that peace is backed by a powerful desire to protect the Alliance from threats, internal or external, with martial power. If the information we've gathered regarding the Precurosrs, protheans, as well as the Reapers and the heretic geth is even remotely true, then surely you would agree that adopting a defensive military posture is well within the realm of responsible actions."

There was a momentary pause, and it was Tevos who replied. "That's fair; the tone of the release is certainly not one the Council would take, but we are all from different cultures. Thank you for sharing this with us; the gesture is appreciated." Anita simply nodded slightly in response, and Tevos cleared her throat. "Moving on to military matters, some figures within the Lower Council and the governments which comprise the Citadel's members have expressed concern at the number of SAAF ships in Citadel space. Now, I understand that, speaking broadly, those concerns are borne out of a worry of the Alliance violating sovereignty and overstepping its sociopolitical boundaries - and while the Council may not share that belief, we believe it stems from a lack of transparency regarding, ah, the flexible terms we've had to agree to."

"Of course, these are extenuating circumstances," Valern said, "and we're not asking for an immediate renegotiation of the terms agreed upon during the original contact meeting or any of the emergency sessions we've had since then. But we do need to come to terms about what should happen if we do call upon the SAAF's assistance in, say, the defense of the Citadel."

"That's fair," Anita noted. "The current situation calls for specific negotiation regarding individual ships - I think that, at least for now, that can stand for the ships attached to the _Gravitas_ 's fleet. As for other ships, like those you suggested, say, coming to assist the Citadel Fleet in defensive action, perhaps an initial cap of two days to be extended at the Council's discretion? This isn't a hard treaty or terms - just suggestions."

"We'll have to deliberate on this, of course, but I believe that to be agreeable. We would like, mind, to request a hard cap on the number of ships operating in Citadel Space for now," Sparatus said. "I'm aware that the Alliance is not bound by the Treaty of Farixen, and that the Alliance's military is quite large - but I'm sure we can come to an agreement of some sort."

"Of course. Defense Minister Hackett's office is available for negotiations via our QEC at your convenience; if you'd like we can arrange a meeting to be held in the near future with SAAF High Command and members of the Alliance Parliament, too."

"I think that would be best," Herane replied. "Secretary Julia, we'll be in touch regarding that meeting shortly, if that's alright." Julia nodded, and Anita tapped the table for a moment.

"In a similar vein, did Spectre Kryik inform you about the data we received from the true geth?" Anita asked.

"Yes - he and Spectre Arterius gave a lengthy briefing on the issue. Mobilization efforts are ongoing, primarily shouldered by the Citadel Fleet and the Turian Navy," Sparatus said, "but in terms of scouting operations we'll continue to rely on the _Lightspear_ and the _Demeter_ , if that's agreeable."

"Of course, Councilors," Anita replied. "One hopes that the news they bring in the future will be good."

* * *

 **February 2nd**

"Hey! Paul! Is it six yet?" one of the restaurant's patrons asked.

"Almost," Paul replied, setting down a plate of doro wat next to his seat by the restaurant's cashier. "Alright folks, no new food for thirty minutes, staff's getting dinner break and we're watching the news," he said, turning on the restaurant's "Dinner Break" timer outside and switching the holo in the corner from a hammerball rerun to the nightly news. The image changed to the FNN intro sting, the familiar flat-cap and glasses-wearing skull swooping in from off-screen, soon replaced by a tall, lanky binary with a dark-brown wood-metal chassis standing in front of a spartan news set.

"Greetings, viewers, and welcome to the Frontier News Network's Evening Edition. It's 6PM Harmony Central Time and the date is February 2nd, 463 Freeport. I'm TM-2QN33S9IM4, Thema, and I'm joined by tonight's co-hosts, Morrigan, Ye-seul Kim, and Sebastien Jimmu. Before we get to tonight's stories, however, we have an emergency broadcast from the Ministry of Defense."

The screen flashed and the image was replaced with a feed of Defense Minister Hackett - old, grey-haired, tired, eyes shining with a fiery inner strength - sitting at his desk; the restaurant fell utterly silent, all eyes laser-focused on the holo feed.

"Good evening, citizens of the Systems Alliance. No doubt most of you have seen the information released by the Citadel Council four days ago. The Alliance Parliament - and the Ministry of Defense - would indeed have released its own message, but recent events, namely the attack of the quarian Migrant Fleet, combined with information obtained in the past day or so by agents of both the Citadel and the Alliance, led us to delay. Tonight, the news I bring is not good news," he said, his voice gravelly and stern, "but I know you will all suffer it with the dignity and strength every citizen of the Alliance has. I will skip the basics of the matter - those of you who find yourselves not up to date on this information, I urge you to do your dutiful research on the matters at hand."

"I begin with the news regarding the Prothean message. The entity which attacked the Migrant Fleet, Nazara, is part of a race which not just attacked, but caused the extinction of the Prothean race over fifty-thousand years ago. Prothean technology - the Citadel, the mass relays and their relics - remained for the peoples of the Citadel to find and the Reapers were forced to retreat - all because the protheans found the Precursor technology which we have learned so much from. Now, Nazara has returned - and not only has Nazara nearly destroyed the Migrant Fleet with little more than a handful of escorts, it has caused a civil war amongst the geth. Nazara subverted more than three quarters of geth society, enslaving them and forcing them to serve its will - and destroyed almost all the others."

"Nazara has escaped to parts unknown, ready to continue what it calls the 'cycle of reaping and harvest:' war on all life, organic or synthetic, killing or enslaving all that stands in its way. Its brethren - which we have termed 'Reapers' - have not shown themselves, but given that Nazara styles itself as a herald, we must assume the worst: that these Reapers will, somehow, sometime, return to the galaxy at large."

"Nazara has shown no mercy. No attempt to communicate with the galaxy's peoples. No attempt to negotiate with the geth, which it enslaved without a second thought. No attempt to let the quarians, whose entire civilization exists in its fleet, flee from its unprovoked attack."

Stephen Hackett's expression as he leaned forward resembled a smile, but it was one full of teeth and oozing bloodlust in place of kindness.

"Personally, that suits me just fine. If Nazara and the Reapers wish to repent, let them. Otherwise, let us show Nazara that we too can be merciless. Let us show our newfound allies in Citadel space that the Systems Alliance is a friend, a comrade, ready to support it in dangerous times - and let us show Nazara that wanton cruelty and murderous arrogance have no place in this galaxy. Citizens of the Systems Alliance, today, the Alliance-wide combat readiness level has been raised from Shield Yellow to Handgun Red. All SAAF personnel, report in for tasking at once. Militia reserves from tiers one to six, report to your local barracks for duty. Citizens, in this time of conflict, I only ask that you do your duties as you always have. Perhaps this Nazara overstates its power, and we will only have to defend ourselves or our allies. But no victory was ever gained by preparing for the best outcome. This evening, eighteen-oh-five on February second of four-hundred-sixty-three Freeport, I officially declare: the Systems Alliance is going to war once again. Good night, and good luck. This message repeats once."

The room went silent for a half-second, before the entire restaurant erupted into shouting; Paul grinned, eyes flaring to life as he threw off his apron and stretched his limbs. "Alright, folks, no point waiting around - Chani, hold the fort down," he said to a young woman sitting across from him. "Who here's in the reserves?"

More than half of the restaurant's three dozen patrons raised their hands.

"Damn right - we're taking the truck to the local barracks right now. Let's go!"

* * *

 **DEPLOYMENT ORDERS FOR:**  
 _X-Sgt. PL-J6T169B0 (PAUL)_  
 _Militia, Tier One, X-Combat Engineer_

PRIMARY PROCESSING COMPLETED AT:  
Harmony Defense Force Base CENTRAL - Core, Militia, Frontier  
1923HR/ February 2 / 463 Freeport

Assigned to: GROUND OPERATIONS, SECOND FLEET, DIVISION ONE  
Assignment Location: Discovery / Frontier Relay  
Purpose: Front-line Defensive Operations against Reaper-aligned forces  
Length of deployment: Unlimited  
Security Clearance: Green Six (Green Two Upgrade upon Secondary Processing)

Instructions:

Upon completion of Primary Processing, you have THREE HOURS of free time. After the allotted time has elapsed, you will move to Staging Area X-RAY and report aboard the Orbital Logistics & Support ship, OLS VORTEX, for tasking. Secondary Processing will occur either shipboard or on a station en-route to Discovery. During Secondary Processing, you will undergo testing to determine which Combat Re-Familiarization stream you will be placed in. Time-dilated simulation training will be carried out both en-route to Discovery and once you have arrived. Reinstatement of your previous rank will depend on your overall CRF score and testing observations by superiors.

You are advised to bring all of the weaponry and combat gear issued to you as a TIER ONE MILITIA, X-SGT. Failure to do so will reflect poorly on you, and may result in a penalty to your CRF score and a negative report by superior officers.

In addition, your personal belongings allocation as a TIER ONE MILITIA with a rank of X-SGT. allows for:

ONE Standard Issue Systems Alliance Armed Forces Personal Belongings Bag (SI-SAAF PBB) OR equivalent in size / weight.  
ONE Standard Issue Systems Alliance Armed Forces Combat Rucksack (SI-SAAF CR) OR equivalent in size / weight.

Your personal belongings allocation as a BINARY also allows for:

TWELVE External Power Units, Portable, Medium  
ONE External Memory Device

Thank you for complying with all orders.  
The SAAF thanks you for your continued service to the Alliance, in life and in death.

 _THIS ORDER AUTHORIZED BY: SERGEANT FIRST CLASS AD-PZGWK3L_

* * *

"Ah, may I ask who those people are? Pilots, I assume," Jalina said as she descended the shuttle ramp and set foot on the base's runway.

"Nadir," Makena Briggs said, taking off their helmet and watching the crowd of Pilots and Titans, all clad in bright red dress uniforms, assembled outside the frigate across the runway. "Bunch of nutcases, but you didn't hear that from me."

"Hmm. I did read that they were formed by the grandson of a famous IMC-aligned mercenary? I also read - according to a member of Barker's Bastards, mind - that their idea of conflict resolution is a combination of group therapy and trial by combat. Is that true?"

"It is," Makena said with an amused expression, clipping their helmet to their belt. "Nadir folks are, I dunno. You don't become a Pilot or a Titan without a, how to put it, a love of fighting on some level, but Nadir folks take that to a whole new level. Ah, our escort," Makena noted as a car descended from the base's airspace and landed nearby. "Seurat! We're good - you can get out of the ship now." Makena watched as a lanky Titan hopped out of the shuttle's side hatch, and both stood at attention as a uniformed woman stepped out of the car.

"Ambassador Atruus," the woman said with a small bow. "I trust your trip to Praxis was to your liking?"

"Ignoring the declaration of war, courtesy of the Reapers, and the near-destruction of the Migrant Fleet," Jalina said sadly, "yes, everything went well. I apologize for returning to Harmony on such short notice, Ambassador Moreau."

"It's no trouble - difficult times all around. Please, make yourselves comfortable, and we'll take you to Parliament." Hilary Moreau gestured to the back of the vehicle, and waited for Jalina, Makena and Seurat to enter before following them inside. Once they were all seated in the spacious rear of the car, she leaned into the driver's cabin. "We're all settled, Yasuke."

"We'll have to fly low for now," the cap-wearing binary driver replied, looking back into the passenger seating. "Bunch of big ships are gearing for launch - it'll just be a few extra minutes."

The car flew at ground level, maintaining a slower-than-usual speed; as they passed by the crowd of Nadir Pilots and Titans, Jalina managed to get a good look at the Pilot-Titan duo standing in front of the frigate's lowered ramp. The human Pilot looked old, and his face was more metal plating and prosthetics than skin; his Titan partner's chassis had more scorch-marks and dents than clean parts. The Pilot's arms were bare and exposed, revealing hundreds of ritual scars and tattoos, and similarly the Titan standing next to him had markings carved into its arms. Both were screaming loud enough that their voices could be heard as a muffled chant through the vehicle's plating, and Seurat snorted.

"I bet they're gonna do the thing," Seurat said, shaking his head.

"What thing?" Jalina asked.

Seurat made a disgusted noise and rubbed at his square head. "Just watch. Yasuke, windows?"

"Sure thing," Yasuke said, and Jalina watched as the assembled Nadir cadre began to beat their chest rigs in a slow, steady rhythm. As the windows rolled down slightly, the group's muffled chants became a howling roar.

"NADIR!" the duo at the front of the group screamed in a scratchy voice, "WHO DO WE SERVE?"

"ALLIANCE!" the group shouted back.

"NADIR! WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?"

"FIGHT FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT FIGHT! KILL FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT KILL!"

"NADIR! KILL!"

"KILL! KILL! KILL!" The group chanted, howling and laughing and beating the thumping rhythm on their metal chests, over and over.

"Bunch of nutcases," Yasuke grumbled.

"Yasuke," Hilary said, her tone disapproving.

"What? It's true," he said, shrugging as he drove away and rolled up the windows.

"Not in front of the Ambassador. Please."

Jalina shrugged. "It's quite alright. Equivalents exist in every military, I assure you. It's a soldier thing, I think."

"Doesn't mean it's not embarrassing," Seurat whispered. "Yeesh. What a bunch of edgelords."  
Several hours later, after a joint meeting with the Ministry of Defense's senior staff, with a few members from the Lower Council, the Turian Army's Strategic Command and about a dozen representatives from the Salarian Union Armed Forces attending remotely, Jalina stepped outside of the Ministry of Defense headquarters in downtown Core, can of coffee in hand. The weather outside was cool, the night sky illuminated by the endless rows of lights and buildings downtown; the section of boulevard was mostly filled with government buildings, though near the end of the block, an SAAF recruitment centre was still open despite it being nearly ten in the evening; a long lineup stretched into the distance, forcing pedestrians to weave through the crowd to pass by. As she approached, she heard the unmistakable sound of what the Alliance thought of as military music - personally, she thought it was both too cheery and too sombre to get her in the fighting mood, but it seemed be doing the trick. She paused as she noticed a pair of reporters identifiable by the camera drones hovering closely behind them, approached the crowds.

* * *

Maria paused, cleared her throat, and grinned as her camera drone swung around to face her - a binary with a humanoid face and chassis. "Before we start, like usual, please let me know if the stream's going wonky in chat, and we'll do our best to fix it. Alright, chat is live, feed is green - heya hey, it's ten PM and you're tuned into Sunset Beacon, Beacon Daily's evening on-the-street stream where we get the latest opinions from real people down on street-level. As usual, Sunset Beacon's hosted by me- MR, or Maria, and over there we've got my co-host, XY, or Xinyi for those of you who're new to this. Say hi, Exie!"

The drone shifted to the side to reveal a binary wearing a white cloak with a polished chrome chassis underneath; her faceplate had three vertical lights which glowed a bright green, and a pink ribbon was attached to her head. She waved, flashed her lights, and returned to standing with her hands on her hips.

"Aaaaas usual, XY's in time dilation right now at one to twenty ratio - Exie'll be reading your questions and answering as best as she can in chat. Standard rules, folks - be nice! Exie's not afraid to wield the banhammer so make sure you think before posting, eh? Okay, let's get this started. Tonight's topic - well, you all know what it is - war! Big news this evening with a message from ol' Hackett himself - we're off to war, even if it's just in a defensive capacity or giving a hand to our new Citadel neighbours. Alright - hey there!" Maria walked over to the crowds of both pedestrians and those waiting in line outside the recruiting centre.

"Hey! It's Exie and Maria," someone shouted; others turned and waved or cheered; people posed in front of the drones and took photos, and an obnoxious pair of drunk party-goers who attempted to grab XY's drone were shocked with a low-powered taser.

"Alright, alright, easy there people - we can't interview everyone tonight but we'll be here well into the morning! First up, you there, hello!" Maria said to a young man standing in line who was waving at her. "Declaration of war, big news - how're you feeling?"

"I'm pretty pumped," the man replied with a smile. "I mean, war sucks and I'm sure if I see frontline combat it's not gonna be fun - but man, deep down, this is exciting. We've got an enemy that is _literally_ an evil squid spaceship that has, like, no issues with being a mass-murdering dick. No moral abiguity about that - hells yeah I'm in."

"So, you signing up for the SAAF?"

"Yup! I did two years as an intern for the Ministry of Defence a few years back and everything, but I didn't get called - Militia Tier Ten, but hells, I'm more than happy to sign up!"

"Alright, thank you very much - next person! Yes, you there, how're you feeling?"

The binary shrugged and made a sighing noise. "I'm not quite as excited - you know, I just feel so bad for those quarians and geth. The idea of all those people losing their friends, family and home, well, I'm not happy about that, you know? Really puts a damper on the idea of a black-and-white war, which'd normally would get me going. But hey, I'm more than happy to pitch in - I know every binary doing computation can come in handy for something and if I get called to service, Militia or otherweise, I'll be happy to pitch in."

"Well, service is service, however you do it - and if we've got any quarian or geth listeners, there's a place for you in the Alliance too. Can I get a cheer for that?"

The streets erupted into cheering, and Jalina watched as the pair of binaries approached her.

"Ma'am - yes, hi! I know visitors from the Citadel are still pretty rare and we'd love to get your thoughts on this!"

Jalina stopped and looked at the camera drone, her expression one of careful consideration. "Well," she said after a moment, "I can't say I'm excited at the prospect of conflict, but if there's an unavoidable fight, I can say that, at least personally, I'll do my part, whatever that is."

"Hmmmm," Maria said, her expression one of deep thought. "Well, I'd love to ask you more, actually - are you free, ma'am?"

"I'm afraid I have to get back to work in a little bit," Jalina said, shaking her head.

"Oh, okay - get going then! Don't stick around for our stupid show," Maria said with a wide grin. "Alright, alright, next person, let's see..."

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 **Topic: Alliance Citizen Reactions to Declaration of War  
In: Boards ► Media Discussion ► Systems Alliance ► Sunset Beacon  
Palaven Rising ** (Original Poster) (Ascent!)  
Posted On Feb 3rd 2158:  
Spirits, man. We're all reeling from what happened to the Migrant Fleet and that crazy-as-fuck press release from both the Citadel Council and the Alliance earlier today...so I decide to turn on some Alliance live feeds, see what things are like, and HOLY SHIT you Alliance people are NUTS. Look, I'm turian, I get the whole loyalty and duty thing - I did my tour of duty for the Turian Army and if I get called back for this fuckstorm of a situation I'll serve again with pride - but I'm not fuckin' EXCITED about it, yeesh.

Sorry, I don't want to be, I dunno, culturally insensitive but I sure as hell am not looking forward to fighting the thing that blew up more than half of the Migrant Fleet in less than a few hours. Anyways, if you guys are looking for some really creepy shit, you can find the link to the feed - it just ended like, an hour ago - here.

 **(Showing page 1 of 9823)**

 **►Flashlight Party** (Firelink)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
Hey, Palaven, that's really rude of you! Just because you don't understand our culture that doesn't mean you have to be rude about it ;_;

What's wrong with being excited about fighting an evil squiddy space ship? I think it's pretty noble that we're happy to take the fight to the thing that killed so many quarians and geth for no reason!

 **►Twochanka** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
I mean, I agree with Flashlight about not being rude...but even I'm kind of creeped out by this. Sure, every krogan likes a fight deep down, but war's a whole different story. Did you see the clip - about 2 hours in - from the combat vet binary? Dude said he's seen some shit but he's excited to "get back into it?"

Man, my grandpa was all about the blood rage and stuff, and even he'd be weirded out by how excited everyone in the Alliance is...the most negative thing I saw from the stream was people who weren't excited - not because, you know, WAR, but because people have died already. But they're still pumped to go fight.

That's kind of messed up, I think...

 **►VolusMolus** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
Yeah, I'm with Twochanka on this one. I knew Alliance folks loved fighting or someting but this is a bit much, don't you think?

 **►Sage** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
Holy fuck you guys are nuts. Look, nobody likes Nazara, we're all itching to kill whatever that thing is, but nobody's making you be excited about it.

 **►KretekStain** (Firelink)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
Is it really that hard to imagine that we're excited to do some good in the galaxy? Nazara and the Reapers are as clear-cut "bad" as you can get! This is a nice, clean war - how often do things pan out that way?

 **►AgentSausage** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
Nobody's saying that Nazara's not evil or anything - that's not the thing that's freaking us out.

There were LITERALLY dozens of people on camera out there who were genuinely excited that the Alliance and Citadel species are building up for open warfare against an evil spaceship that apparently helped EXTERMINATE the protheans.

Come on, NOTHING about that seems off? Can you not see how that juuust might be creepy as shit?

 **►Dawn Of Socket** (Ascent!)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
I've been telling you people the Alliance folks are crazy for MONTHS and I keep getting shit on - how do I look now, huh? Eight "world wars," all that stuff about Cerberus - which I still maintain was a false flag op - and the obsession they have over war and, no, Dawn's crazy?

What now?

 **►Ascalon** (Firelink)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
What now? I dunno, you're still an asshole, so there's that.

 **►Red Smoothie** (Moderator) (Ascent!)  
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:  
Guys, I know this is contentious topic, so let's try and keep this civil, please. **End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 9821, 9822, 9823**

* * *

"We'll do it like last time," Captain ED said, focusing on the holoboard in the _Demeter_ 's CIC. "The only way in is through the Dholen relay - and if the hypotheses provided by the true geth are correct we'll be jumping into knife-fight range of Nazara's forces."

"How long do your stealth systems work for?" Nihlus asked. "I don't want to have you guys jump ahead just to get blown apart before you can jump for the return trip."

"Theoretically speaking, three hours," Chief Engineer Greg Adams noted, "but I'd like to point out that the three-hour figure is the maximum recommended operating time in the manuals, based on prototype testing. In practice we've never used it for more than ten minutes or so - and even with three hours that's really not enough time to do a comprehensive scan of the planets in Dholen, let alone jump systems to Amata. "

"What's the recharge time on the stealth system?" Saren said, eyes flitting about the system map.

"Depends on how much power we draw from the engines and capacitors - if we really need to we can reset the system in a minute or two," Miranda answered. "But, of course, that'll mean sacrificing power for everything else."

"Could we, say, chain together the stealth system so that when it drops - or if it drops unexpectedly - we exit into phase shift?" Jane asked. "That way we could, I dunno, jump in, scan, ease up on the engines, jump out of scan range, do a full recharge and then repeat the process until we're finished scanning everything."

There was a pause as the _Demeter_ 's team leaders chatted amongst themselves; Greg shrugged after a moment. "I mean, there's nothing saying that we can't. Power balancing will be tricky but if we keep a bunch of he binaries on serious time dilation we should be alright."

"You'll have to forgive me if I get it wrong since I'm not really up to speed on how all your technology works," Nihlus said, "but I thought your phase devices prevented you from...observing? Is that the right word? The, uh, 'normal' world, for lack of a better term."

"It's complicated, but to boil it down we have ways of getting around the limitation," Adams said.

"Hmm. It does leave the _Lightspear_ in an awkward position - we can follow the _Demeter_ around if you give us the all-clear, but there's no way we can follow you into the heart of Nazara's fleet without being detected," Nihlus said, idly tapping a talon on his arm.

"You could stay aboard the _Demeter_ ," Miranda offered.

Saren snorted. "Valern'll throw a fit - I guarantee he'll spew something about the dangers of letting an Alliance ship fly without an escort or something."

"That's not a very professional thing to say about your boss," KN noted.

"Valern's not my boss - he's one third of my boss," Saren said nonchalantly. "I'd suggest bringing the _Lightspear_ along as a backup runner-ship, but honestly the _Demeter_ 's better suited to that task, too."

"Hmm. I'm not opposed to the idea either; it'd be fairly easy to just have, say, me aboard the _Lightspear_ and have Saren and the rest of my crew stay behind," Nihlus noted, "This might be a bit paranoid, but I'd want to prepare for the worst. Let's say the _Demeter_ is off scouting and the _Lightspear_ is ambushed or attacked by hostiles - I don't want to be unable to get a signal off to you guys just because we're all split up or something."

"We could install a QEC aboard the _Lightspear_ \- we can fabricate a single unit, no problem," Adams said. "That'd address the communication problem, at the very least."

"I'd appreciate it," Nihlus replied. "How fast can we have that ready?"

"We did a full restock of fab-fuel on Tohu station so it''ll be fast - maybe an hour or two, tops," an engineer in the back of the room said.

"Do it," Captain ED ordered. "Nihlus, we'll do pre-flight and inventory checks - I know your ship's smaller, so I imagine you have a bit of time to check up on your crew and whatnot. We'll comm you when the QEC's finished printing and we'll go from there."

"Thank you. We'll take our leave," Nihlus said, and Saren followed him back into the elevator and down into the hangar; the hatch lowered for them as they made their way to the belly ramp, and once they were off the ship Saren patted Nihlus on the shoulder as they walked towards the _Lightspear,_ which was docked in the next bay. "You go ahead and check on Raetor and Jaha - Itok, Valtha, Larix and I will deal with ship checks and inventory."

Nihlus said nothing for a moment before staring off into the distance. "Yeah. Yeah, I"ll do that. Thanks."

"No need. See if you can't get him to come - his expertise with the ship is second-to-none, and even with Itok and Valtha helping me the three of us aren't a replacement for his skillset. Not to mention, personally I find there's nothing like work to soothe the mind in troubled times."

"I'm not sure I'd classify vengeance against an ancient, species-slaying spaceship which has killed more than half of your peoples and is raising an army of enslaved AI soldiers as something soothing, Saren."

"I would. Sharpens the brain - gives you laser focus," Saren said, expression oddly neutral. "When you're under combat stress against overwhelming odds, there's no time to worry about how you're feeling."

"You're not exactly what I'd call a good example of the average person."

"I'm not," Saren admitted. "You and I are Spectres - the best of Citadel space. Raetor may not be a Spectre himself, but he's run with one for nearly three years - and, speaking from experience, quarians are tough folk. They've already been through a lot - this'll just make them stronger."

"Straight out of the tough-love Turian Army school of counselling, huh?"

"TA's got to have a good idea once in a while." Saren shrugged.

"What about his sister? After all she's been though, we can't just take away her brother."

"She has Ultina, right?"

"It's not the same, Saren, and you know it."

"I have a brother, you know. If I were in the same situation, I'd understand that sometimes you have to make tough calls. Turian duty might teach us that, Nihlus, but the quarians have learned it by necessity. Now more than ever."

"Alright, alright, you've made your point. I'm not promising anything and you know he has final say," Nihlus said somberly.

"Of course. I'm just asking you to try - I think you'll be surprised at how...resilient most civilians can be."

Nihlus pulled up Raetor in his contact list and called; a few moments later, the message was accepted.

"Nihlus? You're back already?" Raetor asked.

"Yeah. We're about to head back out in a few hours. Wanted to see how you and Jaha were holding up and pay you two a visit."

"Oh, sure," Raetor replied, his tone at once sad, calm and determined. "I've just been staying at Ultina's place - she's out getting groceries but if you'd like we can meet you at Chalua and see Jaha together."

"Alright, sounds good. I'll see you there." Raetor hung up first, and Nihlus sighed as he walked over to the nearest shuttle pad. Raetor and Ultina arrived before him, and when he exited the shuttle and walked out onto the pad he saw them waiting in front of the hospital on a nearby bench.

"Nihlus," Ultina said, waving at him. She clasped arms with him and smiled, stepping aside to gesture at Raetor.

"Raetor, Raetor, it's good to see you," Nihlus said, walking over and pulling Raetor into a hug. "Spirits, man. I know it's only been a few days..." he said, trailing off.

"It's alright, Nihlus, it's alright." Raetor extricated himself from Nihlus, and clasped arms with him. "I'm doing a bit better - still shaken, still upset, but you know what? I think the quarian people are going to bounce back from this," he said with grim determination. "And I'll be there with you to help things along, if that's alright."

"You're sure?" Nihlus asked. "I mean it. If you're not ready-"

"-I'm ready," Raetor said, nodding.

"Your sister?"

"That's the part I'm not ready for," Raetor said slowly.

"It'll be fine," Ultina said quietly. "She's tough - and I'll be around to make sure she's fine."

"I...I don't want to leave her, I won't lie," Raetor said quietly.

"Well, there's no point in us standing out here and guessing what she'll say," Nihlus noted.

Raetor led the three of them into the hospital and after a quick elevator ride they entered the quarian visiting ward; Jaha's room was a small, single-occupancy one, and she was sitting on the bed, staring out of the window. She flinched slightly as she noticed the reflections of Nihlus, Raetor and Ultina, and she spoke without turning around.

"Nihlus. Here to take my brother away?" she said in a flat voice.

"Jah-"

"Fine. Go ahead."

Nihlus sighed and rubbed at his fringe. "Jaha, I'm sorry, but-"

Jaha got up and turned around, cutting him off with a wave of her hand. "I said it's fine."

"Ja," Raetor said quietly.

"What do you want me to say? That I'm happy my brother - my only family until we find mom or her corpse - is leaving me to go fight... I don't even know what you're fighting against! The ship? The ship that just killed half the quarians in the galaxy?"

A long silence.

"Well I'm not happy," Jaha said in a near-whisper, her whole body shuddering and shaking. "I'm not." She looked up at Nihlus and her tone was venomous. "So get the hell out of my room before I change my mind."

Raetor seemed ready to reply, but Ultina grabbed his arm and led him out of the room; Nihlus met Jaha's gaze, unflinching.

"I won't pretend to know how you feel, Jaha. But you have my word that I'll do everything in my power to bring your brother back unharmed."

"You'd better," Jaha said flatly, turning around to face the window again.

Nihlus simply nodded and left the room, meeting Ultina and Raetor outside. Raetor sighed, and shook his head as the door closed behind Nihlus.

"Honestly," Raetor said slowly, "that went a lot better than I thought it would."

"She's a tough woman," Ultina said. "She'll bounce back from this. I know it."

The trio returned to the ground floor of the hospital and made their way outside to the shuttle pad; Nihlus looked back at the hospital, then at Raetor.

"I meant what I said earlier, Raetor," Nihlus said. "If you want to stay-"

"-I don't, Nihlus. My instinct is to stay, sure. But the right thing, deep down - I need to be out there, doing what I can do."

"Mmm. Good. Come on then - we've got to get you up to speed. Ultina?"

"I'll stay for now - Jaha needs someone, anyone," Ultina replied.

"Fair enough. We're getting a QEC unit installed on the ship courtsey of the _Demeter_ \- if anything happens, either on the Citadel or in general, you should be able to use the Alliance Consulate's units if the ship's out of comm range."

"I'll keep my head to the ground."

"Appreciate it. All things considered we should be back from our scouting fairly soon. If we're not back in, say, a week, and you can't ping us, you know the codes to my place and the lockboxes?"

"Yeah. I know the drill," Ultina said, nodding. "I'll head back to your place for now, make sure my memory's still good," Ultina said, waving as she got into a free shuttle. "See you guys around."

Raetor and Nihlus rode in silence back to the _Demeter_ 's bay; once they arrived, boarded the ship and entered the hangar, Raetor ran over to the rest of the crew, who were working on an exposed section of tubing and circuitry.

"No, no, no, what have you done?" Reator said, gently pushing Saren aside. "The tertiary fuel lines - I wrapped those around the eezo transfer nodes to slow the injection rate by a small amount without electronic control - you can't - ancestors, I leave the ship alone for a few days and you people ruin everything," Raetor said, shaking his head as he flash-fabricated a small set of clamps with his omntiool. "Pressure's gonna be all wrong. Itok, fuel tap, reservoir, and cable guide. Everyone else, out! We have work to do!"

Saren smirked as he watched Itok scurry over to a nearby storage locker and retrieve a handful of items; Valtha grinned at Nihlus and ascended the emergency ladder to return to the main deck.

"Told you," Saren said matter-of-factly. "Laser focus. Nothing like a little stress to get the mind going."

"Don't you go lording this over me."

"Spirits bless, too - we screwed the ship up with only, what, four, five days gone? We needed him. Badly."

"I know, I know."

"Sister's cut from the same stock, Nihlus. Tough people, tougher family, I bet."

"Why are you two still here?" Raetor said, still looking at his work. "Out! Out!" he shouted, gesturing at the elevator.

"Alright, alright, we'll get out of your suit," Nihlus said as he led Saren over to the elevator. "Heads up, Alliance people are bringing the QEC onboard in an hour or so - don't get mad at them if they barge in."

"It's been less than a week, Nihlus - I haven't lost the diplomatic touch," Raetor said as Itok smiled and patted Raetor on the back.

"It's good to have you back onboard, buddy," Itok said.

"Don't you go calling me buddy - I bet you've gone and re-calibrated the guns to favour total output over heat reduction."

Nihlus and Saren chuckled together, the sounds of Itok and Raetor bickering fading away as the doors closed.

* * *

 **February 3rd**

Both ships idled next to the Tikun mass relay, Rannoch - and a small number of patrolling Citadel Fleet ships - visible in the distance; the side airlock hatch off to the side of the CIC lit up, and a moment later it hissed open to reveal Nihlus in full combat gear. All of the _Demeter_ 's crew within sight stood at attention; Captain ED clasped arms and shook hands with Nihlus once he exited the airlock.

"Why's everyone standing at attention? Last I checked, I'm not Alliance," Nihlus said as he removed his helmet and clipped it to his belt.

"You've shown me the same courtesy and respect on more than one occasion - so it's only fair, as a visiting Captain, that my crew show the same to you."

"Unnecessary as it is, I appreciate the gesture."

Captain ED smiled, and led Nihlus into the cockpit. "Go ahead, Helmsman."

" _Lightspear_ , this is _Demeter_ ," Helmsman Goldstein said into his comm unit. "Spectre Kryik is on board and we are ready to jump. Destination is the Dholen relay; we're about to activate stealth systems and will signal on arrival. Do not follow, I say again, do not follow unless the all-clear signal is given. Confirm, over."

" _Demeter_ ," Valtha replied, "this is _Lightspear_. Spectre Arterius is now in acting command. We will stand by and await your signal. If no signal is given within five minutes, we will fall back to staging point two and proceed with contingency one."

"Instructions confirmed. _Demeter_ out." Goldstein leaned back in his chair, and his faceplate light turned off for a moment before shining brightly. "All personnel, stealth drives online in thirty seconds. Engineering to stage one positions and standby." Goldstein's light flickered for a few seconds, and a moment later a panel unfolded from above his seat, revealing a small lever. "Stealth drive online in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, mark." Goldstein pulled the lever and Nihlus watched in astonishment as the ship flashed with the blue-white motes of light that followed every Alliance ship's FTL jumps; a moment later, the lights were gone, replaced with an odd, blue glow which filled the ship.

"Helm, this is Engineering," Chief Engineer Adams said via comm. "Stealth drive stable and holding, capacitors ready for jump."

"All crew, fifteen-jump sequential ready, drives online and green across the board. Stand by, jumping in five, four, three, two, one, mark."

The _Demeter_ filled with the screeching howl of FTL and the view beyond the cockpit was pure, pitch black; Nihlus grit his teeth as the unnatural wave of discomfort washed over him. After what felt like an eternity the noises stopped and the ship was abruptly deposited into normal space again, not far from the system's mass relay. Nihlus stared out of the cockpit, not sure of what he was looking at, then swore loudly as he understood.

The Dholen relay was surrounded by a loose, multi-layer sphere of geth gun platforms and heavily-armed ships, all painted in the black-silver livery of the heretics with their hardpoints deployed and aimed at the space where the _Demeter_ currently was. The _Demeter_ itself was in the middle of what Nihlus guessed was a thick minefield; the ship clipped through the mines as if the traps were nothing more than holograms.

"How - never mind. I imagine the 'how' of this is classified," Nihlus mumbled, looking up at a countdown display which suddenly lit up near GS's consoles.

"Stealth drive still green," Adams said over the ship's comms. "Timer at two hours and fifty-nine."

"I don't know how it works," ED replied quietly, "but it's the only reason why we're not scrap - I won't question it. Helmsman?"

"Signals," Helmsman Goldstein said, nodding. "Message four."

"Understood," Samantha Traynor said from her station behind the cockpit. "Sending 'hostile territory - standby' signal. Reception confirmed, _Lightspear_ holding position."

"Take us out and around the picket," ED said.

The _Demeter_ eased its way through the loose defensive line of heretic ships and beyond the relay; the entire Dholen system was packed with massive clusters of heretic server stations and defense platforms. Endless, swarming lines of tiny transport ships snaked between all three planets in the system and construction yards placed in their orbits, ferrying materials directly to assembly bays and manufacturing stations.

"Scanners online and scan range at maximum," Traynor said, her voice flat. "Legion?"

"This unit estimates roughly two to three hundred ships equivalent to the frigate designation used by the Citadel Fleet, not including ships under construction. Most match IFF designations held by ships previously used to maintain geth defense patrols. Preliminary signals evidence suggests the majority of infrastructure and ships are of geth make, also re-purposed to support the heretics' needs."

"Hmph," Captain ED grumbled, "this isn't the worst case scenario, but it's not good, either. Interstellar Operations could win this fight right now - load carriers up, dummy ships in first to draw fire - but it'd still be nasty, lots of casualties on all sides."

"Still haven't accounted for Nazara," Nihlus noted sourly. "That...thing wiped out more than half the Migrant Fleet with a dozen escorts. I know the Migrant Fleet isn't - wasn't - entirely composed of military ships but thirteen against fifty thousand and nearly coming out on top?"

The cockpit went quiet for a moment as ED tapped the wall next to her for a moment.

"Odd, then, that Nazara's not here. Legion, anything of note?"

"Scans of the ships being constructed in the orbital yards near do not match known designs. We recommend closer analysis."

The _Demeter_ flew closer to the planet closest to the relay, Haestrom, and soon enough the construction yards orbiting the planet came within viewing distance of the cockpit, and the entire ship seemed to fill with gasps and curses as everyone took in the sights. Hundreds of bays housed half-finished ships of all sizes, but all shared similar elements: black-silver frames, and tentacle-like protrusions.

"Spirits," Nihlus said, "They're...they're not building new Reapers, are they?"

Captain ED's eyes narrowed. "They're definitely a lot smaller than Nazara, but even a few dozen gunships with a fraction of Nazara's firepo-"

"Captain, we've got incoming Ark FTL signatures," Samantha interrupted, her voice urgent. "Stand by, six targets, dropping into phase!"

"Received," Goldstein said, eyes flickering at a furious speed as he interfaced with his controls. "Adams, stealth?"

"We're good, we're good, drives are stable," Adams replied. "Phase detection, green and holding."

"Are there any other Alliance ships supposed to be out here?" Nihlus asked, watching as the familiar black-on-black tears appeared in the distance.

"No," Captain ED whispered, as six boxy ships in the Alliance style, all-silver and bearing an all-too-familiar, three-pronged symbol suddenly appeared in the system. "Oh, no."

The Cerberus ships drifted for a few seconds before all turned on the _Demeter_ , and began accelerating.

"Contact, contact, contact, six Ceberus frigates, Dagger class, approaching fast!" Goldstein shouted, pulling the _Demeter_ away from the incoming ships. "How the FUCK can they see us?"

"They're not in phase - it's in ark stealth like us!" Samantha replied. "It's the only way they cou-"

"We'll think about this later! Cyberwarfare, maximum cap! CT, standby to repel boarders! Nihlus, helmet on, get downstairs to deck two and stay with Jane. Miranda, bring my combat rig," ED shouted as Miranda took off at a sprint towards the armoury, Nihlus only a step behind.

"Why the hell aren't we bugging out?" Goldstein said, looking back towards the cockpit at Captain ED.

"Helmsman, Cerberus isn't supposed to be outside Alliance space," ED said, calmly checking her sidearm. "They can see us. And they have stealth tech. An impossible feat - and only the _Demeter_ should have that technology."

"Great! How about we figure that out while we're not in the middle of a damn geth stronghold?"

"Just what I was thinking. Helmsman, five-jump sequential to a random location, please."

"What?"

"GS," ED said, her voice cool. "That was an order."

"Fu- all personnel, stand by for emergency FTL, five jump sequential. Ark Engines stable, jumping in three, two, one."

The ship rocked as it disappeared from the Dholen system and reappeared in a stretch of empty space.

"Jump complete, we're in the middle of nowhere, now what?"

ED simply stared at her console. "I bet they'll follow us." Seconds later, the cockpit crew watched as a lone Cerberus ship emerged from its own black-on-black tears; the single ship angled towards the _Demeter_ , but remained still.

"One ship," Samantha said. "Why one ship?"

"I don't like this," GS muttered. "Smells like a trap, if- wait, what the hell?"

The Cerberus ship flickered for a moment, suddenly shifting from clear visibility into being covered by the stealth drive's blue fog. A small port on the front of the ship opened and ejected two small white flares, and its nose lights began flashing repeatedly, a battery of white and orange.

"What in the actual fuck," GS whispered. "Two whites flares, and white-orange tap? That's-"

"-Cerberus ship is sending surrender codes," Samantha said a moment later. "Wait, what? No, that can't be...no, it is, it's SAAF standard for a surrender. Captain?"

"Gunnery at condition one and standby for weapon lock," ED barked. "Stand by to drop the stealth drive. Traynor, open a one-way burst."

"Ma'am?" GS asked, dumbfounded. "I'm sorry, you want to drop _out_ of stealth?"

"Yes. If that ship can see us anyways, we're just wasting power."

"Understood, Captain," GS said slowly. "Stand by, dropping into realspace," the Helmsman said, flipping the lever above his head. The ship rocked and shuddered for serveral moments; there was a sudden sound, not unlike air being sucked into a vacuum, which echoed throughout the ship as the blue haze receded into nothingness. "Drop complete, power balance returning to combat stance."

"One way burst primed and ready, Captain," Samantha said. "Ready on your mark."

"Unidentified Cerberus ship," Captain ED said in a steely voice, "we see your surrender signal and will accept if you immediately jettison all weapon hardpoints. You will also respond with the correct flare pattern for signal code DCTEN-FIVE-SOLV, and tap code for ICR Nyx. Failure to comply within the next thirty seconds will result in your destruction."

The Cerberus ship's weapon ports opened, and a dozen weapon modules shot out of the ports, drifting off into empty space; at the same time, the ship launched a line of a half-dozen flares of various colours and flashed a complex pattern with its nose lights.

"Identification Call-Response Nyx pattern completed, signal code received," Samantha said uneasily. "Cyberwarfare and Signals estimate that all possible weapon ports on a standard Dagger-class were opened and ejected a weapon module. All signals clear."

ED stood up as she heard Miranda return with a cloak-like module, and stood up as Miranda installed the device into her back; the module slid over ED's body, covering her body with a thick layer of armour and several weapon modules. "Cyberwarfare to maximum capacity - ship hardening at full. Type three barrier communication line - hail our Cerberus friend, please."

"Line's open," Samantha replied a minute later.

ED's console lit up with an _Audio Only_ readout, and her tone was utterly flat. "Unidentified Cerberus ship. Explain your situation at once."

The voice that responded was quiet and soft-spoken, with a distinct Harmony accent - perfect enunciation, like that of a newscaster. "Alliance ship, thank you for accepting our surrender. This is Adeptus-Thaumaturge Major Kaiden Alenko, Captain of the Shield-class _Blasphemer_ , First Thaumaturgy Fleet, Cerberus. Our ship has sustained heavy temporal damage; our residual timeline systems were damaged and our flicker delta is currently at seven thousand out of one hundred. Without being certain of our current situation and standing, I have decided, as leader of the Thaumaturgy One fleet, to offer myself and my ship as a sign of goodwill while our other ships continue to carry out intelligence-gathering operations on the Great Destroyers present in the Dholen system.

ED glanced around as most of the other crew onboard looked around, confused.

"What the hell? This...Alenko guy, his voice kept cutting out. I couldn't make out half of what he said," GS said, face-light blinking in confusion. "Are our systems damaged? And what the hell kind of wingnut names their ship the _Blasphemer_?"

"No, they're fin- hells, my head hurts - we're all clear on the cyberwarfare front, so I have no idea what's going on," Samantha said nervously. "Captain ED, did you hear all that?"

ED stared blankly at her console for nearly a minute before opening her mouth. "I did." She stared at the Cerberus ship - the _Blasphemer_ \- and shuddered, her memory banks stuttering at the memory of what had happened aboard Tohu station. She calmed her processes and gripped her armrest a little more tightly than she had been. "Major Alenko," she said, her mind doing its best to ignore the full title he'd given, "stand by. We will respond with a decision shortly. Our previous mandate stands: any attempts at sudden movement or any action that could be construed as hostile will result in us opening fire. Is that understood?"

"Of course."

"Alliance ship out." ED terminated the link, and spoke via the ship comm. "Pilot Shepard, Titan KN...and Spectre Kryik, please meet me in my quarters at once. Miranda - take over for now, and I'll fill you in once we're done."

"Ma'am," Miranda said, terror leaking out of her carefully-chosen tone.

Captain ED walked slowly towards the elevator that would take her to her quarters, mind racing with an infinity of possibilities all too terrible to truly comprehend.


	37. ARC 8 - COLLAPSE: I HAVE NO MOUTH

**ARC VIII: COLLAPSE  
"I HAVE NO MOUTH"**

Captain ED made her way to the private QEC room next to her quarters and sealed the door behind her, then stepped up to the communications terminal. She interfaced with the console, first tirelessly, then via cable, and the holo display lit up with a list of options. She selected _Activate QEC Contact_ and selected the _InSec-AO-EMERGENCY_ option Nimue had given her on Tohu Station. The holo lit up with various readouts as it activated, and a few moments later an audio only message appeared.

"Captain ED," Nimue's voice said. "Is something the matter?"

"Agent Chao. The Demeter was just... intercepted by several Cerberus ships during a scouting mission deep into Citadel space. Furthermore, these ships not only appear to have the same Ark Stealth drive that only this ship should have, they somehow have the ability to track the Demeter through FTL jumps."

"Are you in danger?"

"I don't think so. We made a random jump, and a single ship followed." ED paused, and shook her head at nobody in particular. "That agent you mentioned was supposed to already have contacted the _Demeter_? Kaidan Alenko?"

"You found him?" Nimue said, her tone suddenly becoming dead serious.

"He's introduced himself to us as Adeptus-Thaumaturge Major Kaidan Alenko," ED said, doing her best not to stumble over the implications of Kaidan's rank, "and he claims that he's part of Cerberus' 'First Thaumaturgy Fleet' as captain of the _Blasphemer_ , a frigate-sized vessel he says is a Shield-class ship He also says his ship's suffered a flicker delta of seven thousand over one hundred; as he set off several memetic triggers while explaining this, my crew heard almost nothing."

"Oh, damn it all to - at least the information's contained." Several seconds passed before Nimue continued. "Captain, you need to get as much information as you can from Agent Alenko - if he even is _our_ Agent Alenko - and his crew. If his ship is in any way temporally or spatially unstable, scuttle it. I won't tell you how to do your job, as I'm sure you're far better than I am at interrogations, but I request that you not introduce yourselves with a rank."

"Just our names?"

"Yes. If this Alenko isn't lying and his ship's flicker delta is as ridiculous at it sounds, there's a very real chance his memory of this iteration won't the same as our own - or he may even hail from another timeline. Initial impressions are the most important and I think you'll agree that it'd be best to allow him a chance to divulge information."

"Understood, Agent Chao. I do have one concern - Spectre Kryik is aboard to assist with intelligence gathering regarding the Reapers. I'm aware we can just leave him on the _Demeter-_ "

"-and, seeing as that's the only logical option, you will do exactly that," Nimue said coolly.

"It'll raise more than a few questions. I'm not suggesting we just bring him along, but to shut him entirely out of the loop?"

"Give the topics you and Agent Alenko will be discussing, I doubt Nihlus would be able to even understand a quarter of it, given the number of memetic securities around. Your own crew could barely understand him - we don't need Spectre Kryik wondering what's happening when he realizes he can see Alenko's mouth moving, but not hear his words."

"At the rate this is going, Agent Chao, AO will have to bring someone in on the Citadel side of things. I'm not suggesting Spectre Kryik everything or grant him clearances without thinking over it, but surely you agree that someone from the Citadel needs to learn at some point."

"Discussions are ongoing, Captain. In the mean time, Nihlus will have to deal with the situation."

Captain ED thought about making a comment, but decided against it. "Fair enough. Assume Agent Alenko has several crew with him - we're in the middle of a scouting operation right now, and as such would have to store any non-cleared personnel in the brig, where they would remain until we're able to carry out a hand-off. Is that alright?"

"That's acceptable," Nimue replied. "Just ensure that you if you are letting the _Blasphemer_ 's crew on board, that you carry out a very, very thorough sweep on Alenko and his crew - I don't know who this Alenko is, but the one I know is...resourceful. Stay safe, Captain, and best of luck."

Captain ED sighed as she turned off the QEC unit and exited the room and entered her quarters next door; Nihlus, Jane and KN were already seated at the main table.

"Captain," Jane said, "what's going on?"

"Alenko," ED replied.

"Wait...you mean-"

"-yes, KN. Spectre Kryik," ED said, taking a seat across from the three, "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to remain here, in my quarters, for the time being. There's a very, very sensitive Alliance matter we need to handle on our own."

Nihlus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Captain ED, if Cerberus is operating in Citadel space - which the Alliance has assured everyone is not the case - I need to know. It's my job. I'm not going to try and tell you how to run your ship and I'm grateful for the Alliance's support-"

"-I know, Nihlus, I know. The _Demeter_ and its crew aren't Spectres, you have to remember - we have orders to follow and, given the...gravity of the situation and its importance to the Alliance, no flexibility in the way we can deal with it."

Nihlus tapped a talon on the table for a few moments, closed his eyes and muttered something before looking back up. "I don't like this. Not a bit. Right now I don't see any other solution to the problem, since this is an Alliance ship and I like to think we're all friends here. But if there's something big enough that it's got the Alliance worried, then I'm going to extrapolate and say that it's big enough to affect the people of Citadel space as well. If that's the case - and judging by your looks, all three of you, I'm not far off - then promise me that the second you're able to, you'll bring me and any other relevant parties into the loop."

"I can't make promises like that," ED replied quietly, "but I swear I'll do everything in my power to make that happen."

A long pause.

"That's all I can ask for," Nihlus said sourly.

"I'm sorry, Spectre Kryik - Nihlus. I'll do my best to explain the situation to you once we've sorted everything out." ED winced slightly as Nihlus simply closed his eyes and nodded, and she got up from her seat. "Alright. KN, Jane, grab the CT and prepare for a secure intake at hatch one-four."

"Ma'am." The Pilot and Titan saluted, both nodding at Nihlus as they followed ED out of the room and to the elevator. ED got out first and returned to the cockpit, where Miranda gave her a concerned look; she simply sighed and shrugged in response. "Signals, re-open the line, please."

"Ready for your message, Captain," Samantha said a moment later.

"Major Alenko, we are willing to take you, and only you, onboard our ship via a secure hatch. In ten minutes you will see a secure port light up on our ship; please align an access hatch once you see the signal. Any attempts to send more than yourself will be met with lethal force. You will come unarmed and in uniform only. Is that clear?"

"It is. We'll be waiting for your signal."

"Good." ED terminated the connection, then nodded at Miranda as she spoke both aloud and into her comm. "Chief Signals Officer Traynor, you have acting control. XO Lawson, with me. Adams, prep bay hatch four. CT to hangar and stand by for secure intake, one target, bulkhead configuration sixteen." Miranda and ED exited the main elevator in time to watch the hangar's bulkheads rearranging to box in the secure access hatch as Adams and several other engineers prepped the airlock and docking tube; moments later, Jane, KN and the ship's combat team exited from a side elevator.

"Pilot Shepard, Titan KN, you're with me. CT, up top," ED said, gesturing at the hangar catwtalks. "Major Alenko will be sealed inside a box-in with an A-Wall in between us; if he attempts to escape, you are free to space him, XO Lawson. CT, if he makes it out somehow, shoot to kill. Do not hesitate. Is that understood?"

"Ma'am!" the hangar shouted back.

Two minutes later, the hangar was fully prepped, and Adams nodded from what was usually Cortez's terminal. "CSO Traynor, this is Chief Engineer Adams. Send it." There was a whirring noise as the docking tube loaded into the port opened; once it detected the _Blasphemer_ aligned alongside it, the hangar clanged as the tube made contact with the Cerberus ship.

"Cams online, we've got Major Alenko in the tube and coming this way. Stand by," Adams said.

Jane, KN and ED watched as the hatch lit up and hissed open to reveal a tall, scrawny man with short black hair; he was wearing a black and white uniform with yellow accents, the Cerberus logo emblazoned on his shoulder. He walked carefully into the boxed-in portion of the hangar, and made his way up to the A-Wall separating him from the rest of the ship. "Adeptus-Thaumaturge Major Kaidan Alenko," he said with a short bow. "Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

ED nodded, and both KN and Jane stepped forward with her. "I am ED. This is KN and Shepard."

Kaidan's eyes went wide as he saw the name on Jane's Pilot Suit - _J. Shepard_ \- and he fell to one knee, both arms behind his back.

"Lord Inquisitor Shepard!" he shouted, eyes tearing up as he glanced upwards. "I am not worthy," he said softly, "but it is an honour - and a relief - to see you alive and well."

Jane stared at Kaidan, expression bewildered beneath her helmet. "Excuse me?"

"Your voice," Kaidan said, flinching. "You're not - Lady Inquisitor? No, no, damn, the flicker," he muttered, "got to remember the flicker. Ahem." Kaidan stood up, visibly composed himself, and nodded. "My apologies. I knew that things would be, well, different here, but it would appear that I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was."

"That's quite alright," ED said, glancing at Jane. "Perhaps, before I begin questioning you in earnest, it would be best for you to explain how you got here, and from where, so that we avoid any miscommunication."

"I - yes, perhaps that would be best. I am at your mercy - where would you have me begin?"

"We can start with the date."

"It is, to the best of my knowledge, February the third, Four hundred sixty-three Freeport."

"Well, Major Alenko, we have the same dates, at the very least. You've mentioned Shepard - do you recognize KN and I?"

"Clearly the Lo - Lady Inquisitor is different here," Kaidan replied thoughtfully, "so I must apologize in advance if I am mistaken in remembering you two. Inquisitor-Purgator KN, as far as I am aware, is Lady Inquisitor Shepard's close friend and assistant, and while I have not met you personally prior to this moment the name of Lady Inquisitor-Militant ED is quite famous."

"I see," ED said slowly. "And how, may I ask, did you get...here? You mentioned fighting the 'Great Destroyers.'"

"The war with the Great Destroyers, at least where I'm from, has been at something of a stalemate for the past few years. However, late in December, they began to make a great deal of progress and managed to push the front lines all the way to Palaven, pulling off improbable victories, staying a step ahead of us in every engagement. Lady Inquisitor Shepard was dispatched to the front lines to root out suspected heretics, boost morale and, hopefully, push the Great Destroyers back. Last week, we received a transmission from her that said that she had discovered something that could tip the scales of the war." Kaidan looked up at the low ceiling of his container and sighed. "That was the last we heard of him - her - you. Spirits, this is confusing."

"And yourself?"

"I was promoted to command of the First Thaumaturgy Fleet once Lady Inquisitor Shepard left with her retinue. We arrived at Palaven, and Turian High Command informed us that that the day before, all of the Great Destroyers in the system had suddenly retreated towards the Haerath Cluster. Lady Inquisitor Shepard's retinue and a portion of the Federal Navy gave chase, so we followed in their footsteps, and upon our arrival in the Aru system we found the apparent aftermath of a great battle, with thousands of ships destroyed on both sides - but no sign of the Lady Inquisitor. All of the other systems in the cluster were similarly full of destroyed ships, devoid of all life - synthetic and organic, Federation and Great Destroyer - save for one. The last system we investigated, Satu Arrd, had only a single Great Destroyer which was guarding some sort of Destroyer device, constructed out of several hundred of the Prothean Relays arrayed in a sphere. Upon noticing us, the Destroyer fled through the contraption; our scanners detected that the contraption was about to self-destruct, and faced with the choice of death or giving chase, we followed the Destroyer through the device."

"And you found yourself here? In the Far Rim?" ED asked. "You understand that the Haerath Cluster is on the opposite end of the galaxy."

"Yes," Kaidan said, expression one of resignation. "The First Thaumaturgy Fleet contained thirty-eight ships, and, as you witnessed, only five 'landed' safely with us - most of them already running on skeleton crews. Your ship's signature, from what we could scan, failed to match that of any known Federation ship in our database, but you were using the same stealth drives we do - which the Great Destroyers don't posses. Thus, we assumed you were, if not friendly, at least liable to not shoot on sight - and between choosing possibly being shot down by people in ships we recognize, versus facing the Great Destroyers, the choice was obvious."

"Making the best of a difficult situation. I see." ED paused, nodding to herself. "In any case, you appear to be...aware of things such as RTI shields and flicker numbers. Should I assume, then, that the, ah, cyclical nature of the conflict we find ourselves in is something you're privy to?"

"Do you mean the Great Destroyers' cycle of harvest? Or the iterations we've survived thus far?"

"The iterations, please."

"Mmm. Another reason why I was willing to disarm my ship. The Inquisition is decidedly, ah, cautious, when it comes to handing out memetic clearances," Kaidan noted, glancing at Jane. "Testing whether or not you had Inquisitorial backing seemed like an easy way to test your allegiances, and by proxy, the safety of surrendering to you. To answer your question, though, yes, I and one other officer in our surviving ships know about the iterations."

"Do you recall which iteration you are in?"

"Of course. Iteration two-hundred and five."

"I...I see," ED said, managing to remain calm despite herself; she decided to get off that topic and leave the more lurid details of questioning to Nimue and her ilk. "For the record, you state that you work for Cerberus. How would you describe the organization as a whole, and what exactly is your role in it?"

Kaidan seem confused by the question. "That's...why ask, at least for the first part of the question?" He seemed to consider awaiting an answer from ED before then shrugging, and his tone as he answered was as if he were answering by rote. "Cerberus is the militant arm of the Inquisition, which itself is the externally-focused wing of the Federation's Anomalous Security Division. I serve as an Adeptus-Thaumaturge, charged with maintaining temporal, spatial and memetic security throughout the Federation through the application of Precursor-derived exotic technology."

ED nodded, her more rampant conspiracy theories put to rest. "And the Federation? Your take on it, just so my superiors and I have a clear vision of how you see things."

Kaidan's expression softened, and a wide smile grew upon his face. "The Systems Alliance and Citadel, united as one, all races working in harmony against the Great Destroyers and the heretic scum who support them. The pinnacle of civilization facing the hellspawn of dark space. Even if we all die, we do so as comrades-in-arms, joined together in holy war. A beautiful thing, if I may say so myself."

"Yes. I can see why you'd say that," ED said slowly. She paused, thinking for a moment, before nodding. "Your answers have been very illuminating, Adeptus-Thaumaturge Major Alenko. I'm afraid you found us at an inopportune moment - we're in the middle of a scouting mission regarding the disposition of the Great Destroyers. I'm afraid that things are not quite the same as they were from before you made your jump, and my crew is currently in no position to carry out a full debrief."

"That's fair," Kaidan said. "If you'd like, we can arrange for our ships to remain at this point until your ship is free, or a suitable escort can be found?"

"That would depend - how many crew total would you estimate your five ships as having?"

Kaidan's expression darkened. "We...not as many as I would like there to be. Many of our crew were unable to get to their Ark-enabled suits in time. I would estimate that none of our ships are running at more than their minimum fifteen-percent capacity - a total of thirty-eight, last I checked."

"And the others?"

"Dead, or, spirits help them, disappeared." Kaidan noted uncomfortably. "I can only pray that the ones in the last category are dead - a mercy over whatever cruelty they would face in some sort of hellish spatial anomaly."

"I - yes, indeed. Very well. Lady Inquisitor Shepard, as you would call her, will escort you to our brig - for your safety and protection - and we will have your other ships join us after they have disarmed. Is that fair?"

"More than fair. At this point, I'm sure the personnel under my command will be happy to get off their ships, even if they haven't collapsed into some unholy anomaly."

"Thank you for your cooperation. In the mean time, I will contact my superiors and we shall plan what to do with you for now."

"And thank you for being forthcoming," Kaidan said, bowing with one arm held to his chest and one behind his back. "My people will owe their survival to you."

"Before we transfer you to the brig, we'll need some sort of message or reassurance that'll get your crew to come aboard without any trouble," ED said.

"Of course," Kaidan replied. "A message will suffice - the only other thing I could give you besides my word would involve the transfer of a memetic clearance, which I'm sure would constitute a breach of security protocols."

"Ah. Very well. I'm recording - go ahead," ED said as her eyes lit up.

"Ahem. Crew of the _Blasphemer_ , this is Adeptus-Thaumaturge Major Alenko. I'm aboard the Alliance ship and have good news - we've been offered sanctuary by none other than the Lady Inquisitor-Militant ED, or her equivalent here. Your standing orders are to join me on this ship's brig and, speaking generally, to comply with all further orders given by the Lady Inquisitor-Militant." He paused, and sighed. "I know the _Blasphemer_ has served us well but it's time to leave her behind. Spirits bless." Kaidan nodded at Captain ED, a small smile on his face. "That's all for the message - both my own crew, and the others that arrived with me will comply with your orders now."

"Thank you for your co-operation, Major Alenko. I'll have the other ships join us at our current location and transfer their surviving crew into our brig. I'm afraid that, given the, ah, instability of the ships in your fleet, my standing orders will involve scuttling them."

"Probably for the best," Kaidan noted. "They're, as far as I know, held together with prayer and spit as is - perhaps in no danger of causing an anomaly right now, but certainly not safe."

"Will your people object to leaving their ships without their personal items?"

"No - an affectation cause by an old order by the La - Lord Inquisitor," Kaidan said. "Can't worry about leaving a ship behind if there's nothing onboard you're tied to."

"Very good. In that case, we'll transfer you to our brig now," ED replied. Kaidan nodded, and ED turned to Jane. "Go ahead with the transfer."

"Shepard to CT. Need a Prisoner Transfer T-Kit," Jane said into her comm. "Sorry, Major Alenko - I know it doesn't exactly sound like a warm welcome. Protocol, you understand."

"Lady Inquisitor Shepard, there is no need to apologize. I am fully aware of the need for protocol." Kaidan chuckled and shook his head. "You may not be my Inquisitor or the John Shepard I knew - but, really, I get the sense that you are quite alike."

"Really?" KN asked. "How so?"

"Lord Inquisitor John Shepard was merciful, to a fault. Kind, yet stern. Unmovable. An anchor in dark times," Kaidan replied proudly. "May sixth, four-forty Freeport, after the Scouring of Sur'Kesh. We found a group of heretics whose traitorous deeds contributed greatly to the losses sustained during the battle, and where any other sane person, Inquisition or not, would have shot them on sight, Lord Inquisitor Shepard refused. He offered them a chance to come clean, turn themselves in, and repent - and the eloquence of his words, the sharpness of his logic was enough to break through the memetic indoctrination of the Great Destroyers, even if only temporarily. In that moment of strength, John subdued the heretics and purged them of their disease."

"And these heretics," Captain ED said thoughtfully, "once clear of the memetic infection, did they 'come clean,' so to speak?"

"Yes, actually. They turned on the Great Destroyers and provided a great deal of valuable information that ended up being critical to the war effort, save for one who, as it turned out, was supporting the Great Destroyers of his own free will." Kaidan beamed, and his eyes stared off into nothing as though he were recalling a fond memory. "Oh, it was beautiful. The Lord Inquisitor was so incensed that someone had taken advantage of his good nature, he dragged the man out into the streets of the Citadel, broke his legs, and chained him to the Traitor's Gulch. John slit his stomach open, pulled up a chair and watched him die." Kaidan sighed. "Such poise. The photo of him sitting there, watching the heretic suffer became quite a popular image on the news. Truly, the only one worthy to be named the Butcher of Torfan. Lady Inquisitor, do you have a title, by any chance?"

"I'm afraid not," Jane said, ignoring her urge to ask if Kaidan was all there in the head. She glanced at Captain ED, who simply nodded. "I go by Pilot."

"Oh? You retain your title from before your ascension to Inquisitor? Humble, yet projecting an aura of strength. Yes, not my Shepard - but a Shepard indeed. If we have the chance to work together in the future, I would be honoured to stand alongside you."

Jane simply shrugged, and turned as VD and Laflamme appeared and handed a briefcase to Jane and KN. KN jacked into a small port on its side, and the case unsealed to reveal a set of dark purple combi-clamps which pulsed faintly.

"We're going to lower the shield and the divider. Please place your hands through the open slot once we do," ED said, and Kaidan nodded. Two layers of his container hissed as they unsealed and slid down, opening a hole for his arms; Kaidan put them through, and Jane clamped his arms and hands together. Kaidan retracted his arms, looking at the clamps as he moved his arms around. "Alright. Major Alenko, once your container door is open, Pilot Shepard and Titan KN will escort you to the brig. I'm sure you understand - no sudden movements, no running off anywhere."

"Of course, Lady Inquisitor-Militant ED."

"Good." Captain ED stepped away from the container and made her way up to the hangar's catwalk; once she was behind another set of barriers, KN lowered the front shield of Kaidan's container and deployed his sidearm module while Jane unholstered her pistol.

"Alright, Major Alenko," Jane said, "nice and slow. Just follow KN, and I'll take up the rear."

Kaidan nodded and slowly stepped out of the container, followed KN to the rear of the hangar and entered the _Demeter_ 's brig; the trio passed by several rows of empty cells, leading Kaidan to the very back of the ship's small prison.

"Here we are," Jane said, ushering Kaidan into a simple cell furnished with a bed and a small toilet-shower unit partially hidden behind an imaging curtain. "Are you good for now?"

"I am, Lady Inquisitor."

"Alright," Jane replied. "If you need something and we're not around, just hit the button by the desk - we'll probably be back in short order anyway to ask some more questions."

"Thank you nonetheless for the hospitality," Kaidan said, settling into a cross-legged position on the bed. "It's good," he said with a warm smile, "to just sit for a moment and relax."

* * *

Nearly five hours later, Nihlus looked up from his omnitool as Miranda, Jane and KN returned to ED's quarters. All three of them looked exhausted and more than a little on edge as they seated themselves at the main table in the middle of the room.

"Everything alright? Anything I need to be informed about?" Nihlus asked. The trio all looked at him, and Miranda sighed. "Let me guess," Nihlus said slowly. "Classified?"

"Classified," Miranda said after a moment. "Like you wouldn't believe."

"Is the Citadel under threat by something that isn't the Reapers?"

Miranda looked Nihlus in the eyes, her expression grimly determined. "Classified."

"Cl - shit. How bad?"

"Bad," Jane said slowly. "Very bad."

"Spirits." Nihlus leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. "I don't know if not knowing the details makes me more or less nervous."

"I spoke with the Captain on your behalf," Jane said. "If there's anyone outside the Alliance who deserves - not needs, but deserves - to be in the loop on this, it's you."

"And?"

"Captain had her way, you'd be given the clearance by now," KN said sourly. "Brass is taking their time on this."

"Well, I'm not going to hold it against you guys. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I have any right to information from your chain of command but I'm also not going to pretend that I'd really, really like to know what the hell is going on."

"Believe me," Captain ED said as she entered the room, "having the clearance to know what's happening - in objective terms - and actually knowing what's going on are not mutually inclusive. In any case, Spectre Kryik, you're no longer confined to quarters and, instead, are forbidden from entering the brig."

"The brig. Alright. I'll stay out of there," Nihlus replied after a moment. "So? What now?"

"We've been sending all clear and do-not-follow signals to the _Lightspear_ for the past while, and they've been replying with all clear and standing by. Our plan is to resume our scouting mission for a short while - we're going to take a look around the Amata system - then return with the _Lightspear_ to the Citadel to empty the brig, debrief our findings and plan our next move. You're more than welcome to join us on the bridge again if you'd like, Nihlus."

"Sounds good."

The group all made their way to the elevator and descended to the main deck; Goldstein and the rest of the helm crew re-activated the stealth systems, activated the FTL engines and jumped away from empty space and into the Amata system, once again landing not far from the system's mass relay. The relay was, like the one in the Dholen system, surrounded by a minefield and a picket of geth gun-platforms; beyond that, the system's lone planet, Amnat, was surrounded by dozens of construction yards all building more of the strange geth-Reaper hybrid ships. Hundreds of geth ships, mostly frigate-sized but with a few larger ships scattered about, patrolled the surrounding space. Legion - who was standing in the Signals section next to Samantha - flared its lights.

"This unit is still analyzing signals. Preliminary suggestion: these ships contain the majority of what previously constituted the geth fleet."

ED grumbled something unintelligeble before replying. "Class dispersions?"

"Preliminary signals show that modifications have been made to many of the ships present. Based on fleet numbers prior to Nazara's arrival and currently available information, this platform estimates roughly seventy-to-thirty ratio of frigates to cruisers, with three ships which appear to be either heavily-modified or newly constructed ships which are close in size to dreadnoughts."

"We're also detecting huge amounts of EM chatter and eezo spikes on the far side of the planet," Samantha said. "Visuals obstructed by a large, spherical screen of ships."

"Take us in, Helmsman."

GS nodded, easing the ship towards and around Amnat, and Nihlus watched with bated breath as the Demeter clipped through the spherical screen of geth ships. The cockpit nosed past the ships, and the skeleton of some sort of massive structure covered in construction vehicles and geth builder platforms came into view.

Nihlus cocked his head as he attempted to figure out why the structure seemed so familiar, then flinched, taking a step back into the wall behind him in horror.

"Spirits keep," Nihlus whispered. "Those - are those mass relays?" The device was composed of several rings, each with several dozen "spokes" which, to Nihlus' horror, did vaguely resemble mass relays, though each spoke lacked the blue sheen and glowing, spinning rings; rather, the unfinished relay-shaped spokes were a dull, metallic grey, and the rings inside each spoke was inert.

"Signals, transmit our return signal to the _Lightspear_. Helmsman, take us back to the jump-off point. Miranda, you have control, we need to be back at the Citadel right now. I need to have a chat with someone," ED said, taking off at a sprint towards the elevator.

Miranda watched Captain ED leave, took several deep breaths, and closed her eyes. "Traynor?"

"Sent the 'returning to jump-off' signal. Recieved the 'all clear, standing by' signal," Samantha said.

"Alright. GS, take us back to the jump-off point, please."

"Happy to comply. Let's get the hell out of here," Goldstein said, staring at the arrayed relays as he flipped several switches and interfaced with the ship. "Spinning up FTL, green across the board, jumping in five, four, three, two, one."

Nihlus braced himself for the discomfort of Alliance FTL, and shuddered once it passed a few moments later. He looked out of the cockpit, and frowned as the _Demeter_ found itself back in the Tikun system near the mass relay, Rannoch visible in the distance.

"Jump complete, systems stable and holding, deactivating stealth drive. Adams?" GS asked.

"Engineering reports all green. Everything's running just fine," Adams replied over comms.

"Uh, we've got a problem," Samantha said from the Signals station. "The _Lightspear_ \- it's not here."

"Wait, what?" Miranda said, turning to face Samantha and her team behind the cockpit. "What do you mean, not here?"

"We're...hold on. We've signaled them twice with a query as to their position and we're still getting responses, but it's the 'all clear, standing by' signal." Samantha's expression darkened, and she pulled the cables which connected her to her terminal out of her neck before re-inserting them. "Reset the connection, re-estabilishing uplink to the QEC. Cleared. Sending the 'emergency, respond now' alert...and again, another 'all clear, standing by' signal." Samantha looked up from her console. "They're...gone, XO Lawson."

Nihlus half-shouted in frustration, and slammed his fist into the wall next to him. "Gone? What the hell does that mean, gone? And we can't even trace them via QEC - what are we supposed to do now? Where the HELL is my crew?"

"I...I don't know, Nihlus," Miranda said slowly.

"You don't know."

"Nihlu-"

"-perfect. That's great. Just fine." Nihlus looked up, his expression one of ill-concealed rage. "I am going upstairs. Captain ED is going to meet me there when she's done doing whatever classified 'can't tell Nihlus even though it's important to the safety of the galaxy' business is going on in the cargo hold. Is that clear?"

The cockpit was silent for a moment, tension hanging thickly in the air.

"Of course, Nihlus. I'll make sure she sees you right away," Miranda replied softly.

Nihlus stormed off, rode the elevator up to the top deck, paced back and forth. Ten minutes later, the elevator dinged, and Captain ED stepped out with an blank expression that Nihlus couldn't read.

"Captain," Nihlus said, turning to face her.

Silence.

ED sighed.

"Spectre Kryik - Nihlus - I'm sorry."

"You're sorry."

"I am. You have my word that the second our intel is relayed back to our command and the Citadel we'll begin looking for your crew."

"Your intel." Nihlus rumbled uneasily, clenched, unclenched his fists. "Look. I get it. I understand chains of command and intelligence security and, and, whatever." He paused, stared at ED. "This is _my spirits-dammed crew_ we're talking about here. Not just my crew, a Spectre's - one of the most decorated and the second youngest. I'm okay - I have been okay - with sitting here, letting information that involves the security of the galaxy and its peoples remain secret because I've trusted you to do the right thing so far."

"You're saying that I've...made a mistake?"

"No," Nihlus replied. "Maybe I'm entirely off the mark here. Maybe your intel might not have kept my crew safe. But I'm a Spectre. My job is to assume the worst and go from there."

Another silence.

"Spectre Nihlus Kryik, you have my word - I swear to you upon my code - that I _will_ get you into the information chain. I _will_ get you informed and involved. And while I can't promise that we'll find your crew, I'll do everything in my power to do so."

"I can't make you say any more, Captain, but you'll forgive me for thinking - even if just in the back of my head - that your superiors from Internal Security won't be so forgiving."

"You have my word, Nihlus."

The two stared at one another for a minute; both eventually nodded.

"Alright. I'll accept that."

Both returned to the cockpit; ED waved away the crews' salutes and walked over to Samantha. "Traynor, how are we looking for comms?"

"Citadel Fleet ships are patrolling around Rannoch," Samantha replied. "They say that a few Reaper ships - not much larger than frigates - popped into the system about thirty minutes ago. The _Lightspear_ shot them all down within a matter of minutes with some fire support from the CF ships; they followed the crashed ships planetside onto Kaddi. Last signal recieved from the _Lightspear_ was "mission in progress, await further intel," sixteen minutes ago."

"Then they're still alive? Or something happened to their QEC?" ED mused. "Nihlus, the second we finish the upload from our QEC we'll head planetside and figure out what's going on."

Three minutes later, the _Demeter_ was inbound to Kaddi; the planet, a brown orb surrounded by massive debris fields composed of ruined ships and long-destroyed space stations of pre-migrancy quarian make, seemed entirely unremarkable. Earlier briefings had noted that there might be heretic geth scattered planetside, but without the ships or the desire to leave the relative safety of Rannoch, none of the true geth had up-to-date information on the surface. The _Demeter_ made its way into low orbit and released a cluster of probes, and found the _Lightspear_ \- apparently mostly intact - not far from the planet's old capital, Shiazi. Nihlus' old ship was perched on a rocky cliffiside overlooking the ruined and abandoned city, and as the _Demeter_ got closer Nihlus hissed in frustration as bullet holes and scorch marks could be seen around the ship itself and all over its hull.

"Oh, no. CT, stations, prepare for possible hot drop," ED barked over comm. "Gunners stand by for possible hostiles in the area." She frowned, turned to Nihlus. "You're going?"

"Wouldn't you?" Nihlus replied gruffly, pulling his helmet from his belt and sealing it over his head.

Nihlus arrived in the hangar only a few minutes before Jane, KN, and a handful of the ship's combat team followed suit; Jane nodded at KN as he installed himself into his Titan chassis, then walked over to Nihlus as she put her helmet on and sealed its faceplate.

"I heard. You alright?" Jane asked quietly.

Nihlus sighed. "No."

"We'll find them, Nihlus."

"We'd better. Crew's already been through enough shit. Can barely look at Jaha. What am I going to tell her? I lost her brother on some...I don't even know what this is."

"CT, we're coming in - ramp down in thirty seconds!" Cortez shouted from behind his terminal.

"Alright! CT, guns up, let's do this! Heads on a swivel and keep an eye out for the crew of the _Lightspear_ \- and if you see geth, fire at will. No friendlies left here," KN boomed from his chassis.

"Ramp down in ten!"

Jane pat Nihlus on the shoulder. "I can't promise you we'll find them but that doesn't mean we give up." The ramp came down moments later as the roaring of the _Demeter_ 's engines and the wind tearing past the ship beyond the ramp filled the hangar with blustery noise. Jane grappled onto the small handholds placed on the back of KN's "head", unslung her rifle and gestured with it. "CT! Move!"

Nihlus followed the other soldiers as they sprinted and leapt off the ramp, touching down onto Kaddi's ground; the _Lightspear_ was maybe four hundred metres away, plainly visible on the flat cliff-rock face.

"CT, this is _Demeter_ ," Samantha said over comms. "We are ascending to holding position, and will provide tactical support."

The group of soldiers followed as KN stomped towards the _Lightspear_ ; there were no bodies on the ground around them, but there were clear signs of a battle taking place. In silence, the group made good time towards the _Lightspear_ and soon were at its lowered hatch.

"KN, overwatch," Jane said, sliding down to ground level to stand next to Nihlus. "Point?"

"I've got it," Nihlus said, shotgun raised. "Let's move."

There were signs of a battle outside the _Lightspear._ The inside was proof.

Several of the workbenches and cargo crates that usually sat tucked way in the corner of the hangar had been slid and flipped over to guard the emergency ladder and the elevator; makeshift shield units had been attached to their backsides to form emergency cover. Bullet holes covered the interior and there were splotches of blue and green blood on the floors. A trail of green salarian blood led towards the ladder and up the wall.

"Clear," Nihlus said uneasily. "We'll take the ladder - I'll take point."

The upper deck was much the same - signs of a rolling firefight. Sprays of salarian and turian blood. Empty rooms. Empty ship.

The blood trail stopped right around the barracks.

By the time they got to the CIC Nhilus' nerves were beginning to fray and he had to pause for a split-second, refocus and break his rapidly narrowing tunnel-vision. He rounded another flipped make-shift piece of cover built out of a bunch of interlocked chairs, rounded the corner towards the cockpit and snapped back into cover as a handgun shot slammed into his shields.

"...no," a salarian voice groaned. "...back. Stay..."

"Itok?" Nihlus shouted from behind cover. "Itok, answer me!"

A long pause.

"N...n...us?"

Nihlus ran over to the comm pit to find Itok half-seated against the QEC unit the _Demeter_ had given them; the salarian had one hand on top of one of the unit's buttons, and the other struggled to keep a handgun aloft. One of his legs was mangled, a twisted stump of flesh and torn armour, and the other was a little stump that poked out of his waist. Both were coated in a thick layer of first aid spray and medigel; several empty canisters of first-aid spray and even more drained vials of Alliance-made medigel littered the blood-stained ground around him.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, it's okay, Itok, Itok, it's okay, shh, I've got you," Nihlus said, holstering his rifle and cradling Itok, pulling his hand off the red button. "Come on, come on, no, no, no, no, don't you fucking dare pass out on me you little shit!"

"...ha...ha," Itok wheezed, eyes closed. "...hurts."

"Shit. Hey! Jane! Itok's wounded, I need a medic or something!"

Jane rounded the corner, and visibly flinched upon catching sight of Itok before nodding. "Hold on - I've got a nanomedkit and more medigel. Thank god - Vadim! Comm the _Demeter_ and tell them to prep the medbay! Everyone else, overwatch and we need a stretcher!" Several compartments of Jane's chest rig popped open and she pulled out a half-dozen vials and patches, while Nihlus scanned him.

"Suit's not punctured above his waist. Blood loss and massive internal trauma, like something hit him, _hard_. Itok, buddy, stay with me, can you talk?"

"...Jaha...?" Itok mumbled, finally letting go of his sidearm. "...can't...sister...Jaha."

"Shit - Jane, I really hope that thing works because-"

"-just gimme his arm, need an exposed section of skin," Jane said, laying out the various medical tools in front of her. Nihlus tore off Itok's right gauntlet, held up his hand and wrist.

"That work?"

"Yeah, it'll do - nanomeds, foam-stabilizers and organ stimulants. They'll keep him alive and maybe even conscious for the next while," Jane replied, tearing a release tab out of a pair of injectors and holding both around his hands.

"Side-effects?"

"It's going to hurt. A lot."

"Do it."

Jane slammed both injectors into Itok - one into the palm of his hand and the other into his arm - and both drained their contents into Itok's body. Then, Jane tossed both injectors aside, tore open a pouch and slapped a white patch onto Itok's hand.

"Hold him - he's not going to be happy when he wakes up," Jane said as Itok's body twitched several times. A minute later, Itok's eyes snapped open and he began screaming.

"PISS FUCK SHIT SHIT FUCK PISS oh my FUCK that HURTS!" he shouted, writhing and flailing; Nihlus held him down and Jane banged on the wall loud enough that Itok - momentarily - stopped.

"What the FUCKING - wait, what?" Itok said, voice lowering just beneath a shout as Jane lifted her faceplate. "Jane? Shepard?"

"No love for me, bud?" Nihlus said, shaking his head in relief. "Oh, Spirits."

"Nih - ohhhhhh shit on _stick_ that hurts so much," Itok said, eyes flitting about in pain.

"Sorry, Itok, couldn't give you the good stuff while you weren't totally conscious," Jane said before pulling out another injector from her rig. "This one's gotta go into your neck."

Itok grabbed at it, tore the tab out and jammed it into his neck; he shuddered as the tube's fluids emptied into his bloodstream. Seconds later, he dropped the injector, expression one of relief. "Wow. That is some good shit right there."

"Good to have you back, Itok." Nihlus eased him into a half-seated position and passed his sidearm back to him; Itok tried to holster it on his hip, looked at his ruined legs, laughed weakly.

"Well, shit. I wasn't into leg day anyways."

"What happened?" Jane asked.

Itok frowned, closed his eyes. "I dunno, bunch of heretic geth ambushed us the second we landed - we didn't see them on approach so I dunno if they were cloaked? We were holding 'em off and I was trying to contact you guys with the QEC while, you know, doing my best not to bleed out. Had to climb with a missing leg up the ladders to the barracks, then I aid-sprayed the wound shut. Was trying to limp along the wall with one leg, some bastard tin can hit me with a conc shot that blew me into the comm pit. Got me here but it fucked my other leg up real good."

"And the all clear signals?" Nihlus asked.

"I was trying to hit the emergency signal button but, uh, I'm not gonna lie, there are, like, three buttons on that console and I was seeing a thousand."

"Well, at least you're alright, relatively," Nihlus said, sighing. "The others?"

"Raetor's in the guts of the ship - somewhere down in the engines. Said he might be able to call for help if I couldn't make it to the QEC. Saren and Larix? No idea. Think they got taken by those geth fuckers...but I can't say for certain. Wasn't exactly alert," Itok said sadly.

"Fuck." Nihlus growled something under his breath, shook his head, took a deep breath. "Okay, first things, we dig Raetor out of the ship, get you to the medbay aboard the _Demeter_."

"Stretcher up, Pilot," Patel said, running up with several other members of the CT. " _Demeter_ 's on its way back and Dr. Chakwas is ready."

"Alright," Jane said, moving over to help Nihlus hoist the salarian onto the stretcher. "Let's get you to the doc."

The group returned to the hangar and watched as KN left his Titan chassis on guard mode, switched to his infantry chassis, and rejoined Jane and Nihlus. The other members of the CT took Itok and his stretcher-carriers back to the _Demeter_ , which had landed not far from the _Lightspear_ across the rocky flats. Now, Jane and Nihlus were staring at a hastily-sealed maintenance hatch which had been hidden beneath the Alliance-style couch Itok had bartered for so many days ago.

"So, uh, it's locked," Jane said, prodding the area around the hatch with the muzzle of her rifle. "I also get the feeling that it's booby-trapped."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Nihlus replied. "Gimme a second." Nihlus scanned the hatch and sighed as his HUD lit up with warnings. "Yeah, there are a half-dozen conical shrapnel charges sitting beneath the hatch."

"Can we defuse them?"

"Normally I'd say yes, but Raetor's damn good at throwing traps together. I might just try and run the intercom and see if that doesn't work." Nihlus tapped at his omnitool and when he spoke again, his voice rang throughout the ship interior. "Raetor! Raetor, it's Nihlus, I'm back. We found Itok wounded and he's already been carted off to the _Demeter_ to get patched up; we need you out of the ship so we can figure out what the fuck is going on here."

There was a long minute that passed in silence before Nihlus' personal comm lit up; he set it on speaker mode and cleared his throat.

"Raetor, it's Nihlus - we've arrived at the ship. Jane, KN, crew of the _Demeter -_ we're all here now, it's safe to come out."

A pause.

"How many times did you throw up after we came back from Palaven last year and why?" Raetor asked cautiously over the comm.

"Oh, spirits, come on, don't make me say this out loud."

Jane and KN looked at Nihlus.

"There's a story behind this and I'm more than ready to hear it," KN said.

"Okay, fine, it was for Salonea's wedding and I got really trashed off the moonshine because Norunus dared me to drink half the bucket and I told him I'd do him better."

Raetor laughed for a moment, then sighed. "Alright, gimme a second to get back up here - I'm guessing things aren't going so well?"

"Not great. Larix and Saren got...kidnapped? By the geth?"

"Fuck. They told me they had the situation under control," Raetor replied, audibly crawling through the innards of the ship. "Thought they had it."

"Guess not."

"Itok?"

"He's in bad shape. Alive, but both his legs are pretty much gone."

"Oh, shit," Raetor said. "Fuck. At least he's alive."

"Our prosthetics are pretty amazing," Jane offered. "We can probably fab him combat-ready legs and graft 'em on in less than a day - they're pretty much 1:1, he wouldn't even notice the difference. Better than the real thing, too."

"Oh! Jane - gimme a second, I'll be out, just gotta deactivate these mines...and cool. One second." The hatch rumbled, and it popped open a few seconds later to reveal Raetor, his suit covered in oils and grease.

"Glad to see you're alive," Nihlus said, pulling Raetor into an embrace. Jane and KN clasped arms with him, and Raetor looked down at the floor.

"Sorry, boss. Those heretic geth shuttles appeared and we didn't want to let 'em get away." Raetor scratched at the back of his head. "I don't know what the heretics would want with the two of them, but we know their shuttles went down in the city centre. I'd imagine we'd want to look around there."

"Urban combat op?" KN mused. "Could be worse - and the fact that they got taken alive means that they're still alive. Transponders?"

"I can check," Raetor replied. "Just gotta get up to the CIC."

"Alright, go. Jane, KN, we have scan data on Shiazi?"

"Capital city? We've got maps but no guides - friendly geth either got off this rock or were turned to the heretics' side," KN said distastefully.

"We could start with the shuttles the _Lightspear_ shot down like Raetor said," Jane offered.

"I don't see any other options besides sitting in the sky and pelting the place with probes until something bites," Nihlus replied.

"Alright. My chassis's kitted out for medium-range right now; I'll go suit up for urban. Jane, you want the usual for city fighting?"

"Yeah. Mastiff, charge rifle - the one with the quickfire - and ammo. My ordnance is fine," Jane said, patting her chest rig. "Oh, and I need a med-kit refill."

"Perfect - I'll stash the gear in the cockpit," KN said as he got up and sprinted out of the hangar.

Ten minutes later, KN returned - piloting his rearmed chassis from the cockpit - with half of the _Demeter_ 's CT, and the group met inside the _Lightspear_ 's CIC. Raetor was waiting with a tactical map of the city which had four spots marked on the map.

"Alright, here's the deal," Raetor said once everyone was settled. "Those three red dots are the shuttles we shot down - all three landed right around the downtown core. Larix's armour is going off here, about two klicks up from the northernmost wreck - and closest to us. If we get the _Demeter_ to drop us on the city limits we can be there in five minutes march."

"And Saren?" Nihlus asked.

Raetor sighed. "No idea. His signal's there, for sure, but it keeps moving around the map every few minutes. Unless the geth are tossing him around in a teleporter I've got no idea how to handle it."

"Send the data to the _Demeter_ and maybe one of our binary techs can get a handle on it," KN said. "Our sensor suite's a bit fancier than yours, but with time dilation our guys might be able to make sense of it - maybe Saren's underground or his signal's being jammed."

"Alright, I'll do that," Raetor said, omnitool flaring to life as he began tapping away at it.

"Listen up, people, we've got two turians to rescue and an unknown number of geth hostiles that might be standing in the way," Nihlus said. "Rescue mission comes first, but if end up figuring out what those heretic shuttles were doing in the system I'm not going to complain. Far as we're aware there aren't any friendlies in town - so a geth points a gun at you, you kill it. Clear?"

"Clear," the CT responded.

Jane grinned. "Since when are you Alliance?"

"Maybe," Nihlus said, "if I do this enough your brass will let me in on whatever they're hiding from me."

Jane's expression froze for a split-second and Nihlus frowned.

"I was joking. Slightly."

"Uh-huh."

"Whatever." Nihlus shrugged. "You'll forgive me if I'm in a bad mood."

"Should try shooting at stuff. Makes me feel better whenever I'm down," KN offered.

The group re-armed and checked their gear and twenty minutes later, Nihlus, Raetor, Jane and KN were leading half the CT into the ruined capital of Shiazi. Here, the true geth had never taken the time to care for the city and combined with the recent civil war Shiazi looked worlds away from the ruined beauty of Rannos. Skyscrapers sat half-destroyed, swaying dangerously in the wind; row after row of what were once apartment blocks and buildings were little more than mountains of rubble.

"This is creeping me right out," Raetor said over comms, shotgun at a low-ready. "All this ruined stuff everywhere but no cars, no geth."

"Heretics probably salvaged everything they could to produce more materiel," Jane offered.

"Stand by," KN said, his chassis coming to a halt. "We're coming up on the first crash site - it's around the next corner."

"Microdrone out, wait one," Jane said, plucking one of the small drones from her chest rig and tossing it towards the end of the street. "Yup, that's a geth shuttle around the corner - bad spot, right in the middle of an intersection, lots of ambush spots from the buildings nearby."

"Should head to one of the buildings first, maybe?" Nihlus asked. "Looks like the tallest one is this department store here - is the entrance around the corner?"

"No need," KN rumbled. He lumbered over towards one of the windows, knelt down on one knee and extended an arm to make a makeshift ramp up towards the windows sitting on the third story. "Climb up - Jane and I will move around the corner to act as bait once you guys find a good overwatch position. Half the CT goes with Nihlus, the rest of you stay with us."

Nihlus and Raetor both holstered their guns and clambered up KN's chassis, shimmying through the open window and into the burnt-out department store. "Alright, we'll comm when we're in position. We'll try and stay low so we can assist on ground level if need be," Nihlus said.

"Understood. Standing by," KN replied.

Nihlus, Raetor and the half-dozen Alliance marines crept through the department store with their weapons raised and their heads on a swivel. Like the streets, the signs of furious fighting were there - bullet holes, crumbling walls and scorch marks on every surface - but save for the occasional piece of scrap metal or crushed geth limb there was no trace of the combatants who had fought here. They moved up two flights of broken escalators and arrived on the fifth floor, and took cover by a collapsed wall which overlooked the four-way intersection the ruined shuttle had crashed in.

"In position. Move up," Nihlus said, peering over the wall with his rifle ready. The wreck of the shuttle - really more like a tiny frigate - had apparently smashed into the building diagonally across from his current position, lodging a section of wing and cabin into the fourth story of the apartment complex before its main body crumpled into the streets. Still, there was no sign of movement and a cursory scan revealed no thermal signatures - but Larix's armour transponder was still going off inside the wreck.

"Moving." Nihlus heard KN's stomping first, then watched as the massive Titan chassis came into view. KN's chaingun was held up and several of the marines were riding on his back; they neared the wreck, stopped, and KN's mono-eye swivelled towards Nihlus. "No life-signs inside," KN said over comms.

"Don't like this. Reeks of an ambush," Raetor hissed.

"Okay, stand by - I'm disembarking." The cockpit hatch on KN's chassis opened and Jane popped out, landing on the ground in a a smooth roll before coming to her feet by the shuttle; the marines on KN's back dropped down to the street and stacked up behind Jane.

There was a rumble.

"You guys feel that?" KN said uneasily.

"I heard that," Nihlus replied, scanning the intersection for targets.

Another rumble.

"It's coming from...down the street, I think? Jane said, drawing a microdrone and throwing it up into the air; the small black machine ascended up past Nihlus and into the sky. "I'm not seeing anything."

Another rumble.

"Oh. Oh, fuck, guys, I think it's coming from the building across from us," Raetor said quietly.

"What? Ho- oh, _shit_ ," KN said as the wreckage of the shuttle lodged in the apartments across from Nihlus' position _shifted_.

"Guys, stand by for contact," Nihlus said, shouldering his rifle. "That shuttle wreck might work for cover - stay down and we'll call targets."

The shuttle wreck in the building across the street burst apart in a shower of steel and shrapnel; KN raised his vortex shield, catching most of it, but enough got by that the spray of hull and scrap slammed into the department store, peppering the area around Nihlus and his squad with car-sized fragments.

"We're up!" Nihlus said, glancing around at the soldiers.

"We're up!" Jane shouted, the shuttle they were hiding behind taking the brunt of the blast. "Call target!"

"Wait, here it comes," Raetor said, voice tense.

A strange box-like machine, jammed into the apartment complexes and taking up at least three stories of vertical space _unfolded_ , crashing through the ceilings above it as transformed from a smooth box into a towering four-legged beast of a machine with a long, mono-eyed 'flashlight' face not unlike a geth platform's and what looked like dozens of guns of various sizes.

"What the _fuck_ is that thing?" KN asked.

The massive geth machine made a scream-like noise that was so loud that Nihlus' aural dampeners kicked in, locked its shining gaze on KN and its weapons shifted towards the Titan.

Without a word KN released his vortex shield, spraying the geth machine with a spray of metal - which bounced off a now-visible set of barriers.

"Oh," KN said. "Shit. CONTACT!"

There was a shuddering screech as KN's thrusters flared and sent him back down towards the way he'd came down the street; as his Titan's feet sparked along the paved roads his rail-chaingun began chattering away, rounds slamming into the geth machine's bright blue barriers with audible _thunks_ that echoed through the streets.

"Fire! Fire! Heavy weapons and focus on the face then get ready to reposition!" Nihlus shouted.

"No need!" Vadim said, as he and the other marines pulled cubes from their belts and set them up in front of their firing line; interlocking orange barriers popped out of them. "A-Walls! Amp our shots, protect us! Rae, you got anything like this?"

"Yeah, barriers up, one second!" Raetor pulled two cubes from his chest rig and placed them on the ground, and a semi-circle bubble of mass-effect barriers flared around the group.

"Alright, return fire, heavy weapons and aim at the neck!" Nihlus shouted, his Revenant spooling up before screeching out a barrage of fire.

" _Demeter, Demeter_ , this is Pilot Shepard," Jane said as she and her team popped in and out of cover, firing rockets, charge-rifle shots and pouring fire onto the machine. "We have a large geth hostile and are requesting CAS."

"Shepard and others, this is _Demeter_ ," Traynor replied over the comm net. "Coming in for CAS, danger close, ETA two minutes - stand by, we're tracking another four of those things coming out of the ground about three to five klicks south of your position."

"Wait, what?" Raetor said, ducking back into cover as a few of the geth beast's machineguns popped several layers of barrier.

"Correction, be advised, you have a dozen of the machines inbound on your position."

KN, who was now weaving in out of the streets, using the buildings as cover and spraying the geth down with chaingun rounds and rockets, swore. "What's their ETA?"

"First of the heretic reinforcements on your position, ETA five minutes."'

"Great," Nihlus groaned as he popped out of cover to fire his rifle again. "This is fucking fantastic."

"Told you this was going to be an ambush," Raetor replied.

"Shut it," Nihlus hissed, as another salvo of gunfire raked their shields. "Please. Not now."

The exchange of fire continued for another two minutes when the the _Demeter_ soared overhead and for a split second there was an ear-piercing _crack-crack-crack-thoom_ as three grey blurs slammed into the geth machine, metal rods piercing its head, neck and main body before the tips of each road exploded in a fiery blast. The marines cheered for a moment, though they stayed in cover.

"Alright! One down," Jane shouted from street level. "We're investigating the shuttle and will be topside soon!"

"Got it - we'll try and get on the roof to see if we can't spot the incoming hostiles!" Nihlus vented his gun, checked his grenades - eight total remaining - and got to his feet as Raetor slotted his barrier-cubes back into his chest rig. The Alliance marines packed up their gear as well and the group ascended the department store's central escalator as high it would take them - two floors short of the ceiling. They re-routed, used a fire-escape stairwell, and clambered up onto the roof; from their new vantage point, Nihlus and the others had a clear view of the city streets. There were indeed a dozen - more, now - geth war-machines stomping through the streets towards their current position; escorting each one was a small group of geth infantry platforms. Without breaking stride Nihlus began marking targets with his HUD as he and the others took up firing positions on the ceiling.

"Jane? Sitrep?" Nihlus asked as Raetor and the marines began setting up a complex weave of interlocking A-Walls and barriers.

"We're almost done clearing the shuttle. No sign of Larix yet but his signal's still h - what the hell?"

"Jane?"

"Uh, one second, transmitting feed."

Nihlus watched as his HUD lit up with a small helmet-cam feed from Jane and hissed in frustration as he realized what he was looking at; it was, without question, Larix's armour - heavily damaged by one of the shoulders and, from what he could see, removed with haste using the emergency release brackets.

"Left arm is all busted up - right arm looked like it got pierced by something nasty," Jane said, searching around the armour. "Bloodstain on the wall behind the shoulder plates - maybe he got dinged, took off the armour? Maybe he was being tracked?"

"Can you bring the armour up here?" Nihlus asked.

"Yeah - one second." Jane hoisted the armour up and slung it over her shoulder, its components clanking as the released shell's pieces hung limply from the inner structure; she and the rest of the combat team at street level left the shuttle, and Jane motioned at KN.

"Give the marines a lift, will ya? I'm gonna fly this up to Nihlus."

"Got it. Come on," KN said, assuming the same posture he'd taken earlier, extending an arm up into the department building. Jane waited until the grounded marines were mostly finished ascending KN's chassis before launching a grappling hook up onto the roof and launching herself up top; she landed not far from Nihlus and the others and lay Larix's armour on the rooftop.

"You make anything of this? Raetor?" Jane asked, before hopping off the roof and plummeting directly through KN's open top-hatch and into the Titan chassis' cockpit.

"What the - yeah, it looks like he hit the emergency release switches," Raetor said, setting his rifle aside to examine Larix's armour closely. He scanned the armour with his omnitool, then shook his head. "He was hit at close range - the left arm section looks like it got hit hard with something blunt, hard enough to seriously mangle the armour's plating. Right arm, also near point-blank; dunno what sort of projectile it was but it left a nasty scorch-mark behind, and damn near melted a hole through the shoulder plate."

"Lethal?"

"I'd say it probably grazed his arm - consistent with the blood down there," Raetor replied, jerking a head towards the crashed shuttle. "Bloodied, but still alive."

"Why drop the entire suit of armour though?" KN asked as his chassis stomped around the street, pushing cars and pieces of wrecked shuttle around to form makeshift barriers and chunks of cover. "Wouldn't it make more sense just to purge the sections of armour that were damaged?"

"Might be trying to leave us a message?" Nihlus mused. "Rae, check the skeleton, see if there are any pieces missing. Mea-"

"-CT, CT, this is _Demeter_ , stealth systems are engaged and we are ready for another attack run. Your targets are good and distance is safe," Samantha said suddenly over comms. "Stand by...shot, over."

The team watched the _Demeter_ wink back into existence overhead for a moment; it launched a payload of of bright-orange streaks which slammed into the group of geth platforms and the "tank" they were escorting. "Splash. Stand by, returning to stealth for new targets." Just as the massive geth machines began raking the area the _Demeter_ was in with plasma fire, the Alliance craft flickered, then disappeared back to whatever dimension its stealth drives let it travel to.

"Okay, so long as we keep marking targets we can take out those giant geth things," Nihlus said, unwilling to let relief into his mind. "Raetor? Progress?"

"Yeah, uh, there's an entire section that's supposed to be near the right leg that's missing. Should hold power packs, medkits and - maybe transponders? I don't know what he had in there today but he usually has emergency signals gear in there.

"If Larix was keeping signals gear in his armour why didn't we see it earlier? Why aren't we seeing it now?" Nihlus asked.

"No clue. Maybe he's trying to get to safety or something before he sets the signals off."

"You're sure about this?" Nihlus said. "I mean it. How sure are you?"

"Ninety-nine percent."

"Good enough for me. In any case he wasn't torn out of his armour and there wasn't any blood-smear down there - I'm sure he's down on street level somewhere."

"We just gotta get his attention?" Raetor half-asked.

"Yeah - and there's no better way to do that than to wipe out those giant-ass geth things." Nihlus sighed. " _Demeter_ , how much more ordnance do you have?"

"Spectre Kryik, this is _Demeter_ ," Samantha replied. "We have plenty of rounds - but if the geth machines are coming out of the ground we won't be able to help with underground operations - we don't have the right gear."

"Understood. We'll continue to mark targets and have you wipe out geth on the surface while we plot our next move. Standing by to mark next target - ready."

"Awaiting target data - confirmed. _Demeter_ , beginning next fire mission, aligning for attack vector, three clusters in our sights. Disengaging stealth drives..."

* * *

The _Demeter_ ran another twenty-six fire missions, taking out more and more of the enormous geth quadrupeds before, at last, new reinforcements stopped pouring out of the cracks and tunnels in the streets and the remaining ones retreated back into the ground.

"Ground team, this is _Demeter_ , we're not seeing any more ground targets, can you confirm? Over."

" _Demeter_ , this is Pilot Shepard, we're not seeing any targets right now."

"Understood - the _Demeter_ will ascend to safe range and return to providing tactical support," Samantha said.

"Come on, Larix, you're good, you're good," Raetor said as the group - minus Jane and KN, who were at street level - huddled around a holomap. "Where the fuck are you, man?"

Seconds later, the map light up for a split second, marking a position halfway across town.

"There! Right there," Sarah Patel said, jabbing a finger at the map. "That's, like, twenty blocks down - thirty minutes walk, max."

"Why there? That's right in the middle of all three downed shuttles," Nihlus said uneasily. "If I was trying to get away from a marauding army of robot zealots I sure as shit wouldn't be going towards them."

"Maybe he found something?" Jane offered. "Saren?"

"Only one way to find out. Let's move!" Nihlus said; the team packed their gear, returned to street level, fanned out and began marching towards their new destination with their guns raised and ready to deal with any would-be geth ambushes. The team came across the first hulking "corpse" of a geth war-platform eleven blocks down; the main "tank" platform was destroyed, but a handful of geth infantry platforms were still flailing around on their ground, furiously attempting to make their shattered bodies move.

"No survivors," KN growled, stomping on a cluster of heretic platforms; he continued onward without another word, leaving behind a smashed pile of scrap.

Another ten minutes later, they arrived at their destination when Nihlus' comm went off with a series of clicks. He stopped, raised a hand, gestured for everyone to get down and take up defensive posture.

"Nihlus? What's up?" Jane asked over comms.

"Turian Army tap-code," Nihlus replied. "Hostiles near my position. Location underground subway tunnel beneath you. Going dark." Nihlus scanned the area and found a small staircase at the far end of the block leading towards the city's old metro system. "I guess we're going that way?"

"Great. Tunnel fighting. Fan-fucking-tastic," Raetor grumbled.

"Least it's not a sewer. Way worse. You ever fought in one?" Jane asked.

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way. KN, you coming with us?" Nihlus asked.

"Yeah. One sec." The Titan chassis rumbled once more and KN's infantry body slid out of the bottom; KN joined the group and nodded. "Guard mode engaged, good to go. Half of you," KN said, gesturing to the marines, "stay here, guard the entrance. Rest of you, follow."

The team quickly sorted itself into two groups, then walked over to the subway entrance; they descended, single-file, and soon the only illumination came from old emergency lights that hung from the tunnel ceiling. The interior of the subway was fading rusted metal and dusty bricks; off in the distance, far beyond long-abandoned service counters and the crumbling ticket-dispensers, the tell-tale chattering sounds of geth platforms could be heard.

"Raetor and I can take point - tougher shields," Nihlus said. Jane and KN nodded; the turian and quarian shifted towards the front of the group, weapons raised as they crept forward. Fanning out, the group cleared the upper floor of the metro station and descended a burnt-out escalator as the geth chatter grew louder. Raetor led the group as they stacked up by a corner; he peered around it and snapped his head back just as quickly.

"Twenty geth, infantry platforms, small-arms," Raetor said over comms. "Nihlus and I will go first - we'll open with overloads and concs, try and knock 'em down. From there we can lay down covering fire, shift right into the train tunnel while you guys help pick any stragglers off. Our shields can hold better than yours - let us draw their fire and use the lowered tunnel for cover - there's basically none on the platform."

"Got it - CT, shift right, follow their lead," Jane said. "KN and I will get on the ceiling, try and get around them after you've drawn the fire - our shotguns'll make quick work of any you haven't taken out."

"Collateral?" Nihlus asked.

"Keep your aim down - we'll stay on the ceiling and stay to their sides," KN replied. "Geth don't run on walls - just don't shoot up."

"Alright, sounds good. Ready?" Raetor asked, taking a deep breath. "On three. One, two, three!"

Nihlus and Raetor both dashed out onto the subway platform; Raetor's omnitool flared as it launched an overcharged overload which chained from geth to geth, stunning almost half the crowd. At the same time, Nihlus unhooked two lift grenades and slung them at the feet of the crowd, launching the mass of geth into mid-air. Both rolled off the platform, half-covered by the lowered subway walls and opened fire with shotgun blasts and - from Nihlus - a salvo of concussive shots. The second they started firing, the marines came next, throwing a mix of explosives into the crowd which tore into the massed heretics in a screeching storm of electricity, fire and explosives; they too followed Nihlus and Raetor over the edge of the platform to lay down more fire. KN and Jane both came last, flinging themselves in an arc over Nihlus and the CT, landing feet-first onto the far walls before their mag-boots clamped hard onto metal; they ran down the tunnel, past the heretics, while pumping explosive shotgun rounds into the geth before they had a chance to recover or regroup.

Jane and KN stopped running along the ceiling once they neared the archway leading out of the station and into the tunnels beyond as the heretic geth slumped to the ground; Nihlus and Raetor popped out of cover first, leapt back up to the platform and approached the pile of synthetic corpses with their weapons raised. One of the platforms twitched, and Nihlus reflexively shot it with another two blasts.

"Clear," Nihlus said after a moment. "Everyone up?"

The group responded back in the affirmative, regrouping on the platform as they reloaded their weapons and re-checked their ordnance. Nihlus turned to examine the object of the heretics' interest - it was a thick, solid-metal maintenance door whose electronic lock was long burnt out; the physical lock had been blown off, presumably by the heretic geth, revealing both a secondary lock behind it and a bar-lock on the other side of the door.

"Anyone got any heavy-det?" Vadim asked.

KN and Raetor both looked at each other, then at the door, then at Vadim.

"Oh yeah," KN said, drawing a rolled-up tube from his chassis. "Oh yeah."

"Hey - look, we're trying to open a way through, not cave the entire tunnel in," Nihlus groaned.

"We know how to breach a door," Raetor replied, shrugging. "Don't tell me how to do my job."

KN and Raetor consulted with each other quietly for a moment, then quickly laid out several squares of explosives on the hatch's corners. They stepped back, then rejoined the others as they stacked up.

"Clear. On your go, Jane," KN said, his faceplate flashing as he nodded.

Jane rolled her shoulders and exhaled. "Alright. Three, two, one - breach!"

"Breaching!"

With a muffled _thwump-crack_ , the hatch crumpled in on itself, leaving behind a neat pile of rubble; with guns raised, the soldiers filed into the small maintenance tunnel beyond. Their path ahead was illuminated by the harsh glow of emergency floodlights, and they passed by several storerooms, closets and even a break-room, all of which were entirely empty, untouched and showing no signs of battle. At last, they came to the final room in the corridor - marked as _Senior Maintenance & Engineering. _Taking point, Nihlus threw the door open.

A small office stood before the group, unremarkable in its construction. Prefab metal walls, a small desk, and a filing cabinet in the corner.

Normal, save for the massive hole in the wall behind the desk, leading into a pitch-black tunnel.

And Larix.

"LARIX!"

Larix, dressed in a badly-torn and bloodstained combat undersuit, was seated on the office chair, crumpled over the desk with perfect stillness; one hand was curled around his chest, and the other was on the desk, sitting atop his sidearm.

"Larix, Larix, wake up, wake up, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, wake up," Nihlus pleaded, running over to the chair; he eased the man upright, revealing no less than a dozen gunshot wounds in Larix's chest and stomach. Eight had been sealed with a mix of wound-sealant and Alliance-made medigel, but the others were still open, a tiny trickle of partially-coagulated blood seeping out of the holes in his stomach.

"What - but - how?" Jane breathed. "He - didn't - didn't he just message us?"

No answer, save for the muffled sobs from Raetor and never-ending stream of half-wept, half-whispered curses erupting from Nihlus.

They stood for several long minutes; it was Nihlus who broke the quiet.

"His palm," Nihlus said, his tone suddenly terrifyingly flat.

"W-what?" KN stammered. "His palm?"

"His omnitool was implanted in his palm." Nihlus rotated the hand Larix had been using to cover his stomach - and even Raetor snapped to attention.

Someone, or something, had ripped open the suit-glove of Larix's left hand, carved out a small circular incision and torn out a chunk of his hand.

"The omni-tool disc. It's not there," Nihlus pointed out, his posture calm and his voice cold. "We need to find where it went."

"Nihlus - you - you alright?" Vadim asked.

"Not now." He stood up and looked into the hole behind them. "Only entrance is that way. We - wait, what in the _fuck_ -"

Nihlus held up his arm and let his omnitool flare to life, turning around to show the others.

 _Incoming Secured Message - SECURE CHANNEL - EMERGENCY BROADCAST: Larix Quentis_

Guys, where the fuck are you? I heard explosions - I'm in the office in the maintenance tunnel. Wounded but okay. I can't hear the geth - what's going on?

"Someone is playing us. Someone thinks this is a fucking game," Nihlus growled.

"Wait. Message him back," KN interjected.

 _Larix, where are you? We're in the office right now and you're not in here,_ Nihlus subvocalized, before sending the message.

The reply came within seconds.

 _Uh, what? No you're not. I sealed the emergency hatch behind me, and it's still shut. Are you guys in the right office? I'm broadcasting my location with the transponder._

 _Shit, we are in the wrong tunnel. Hold tight, we're on our way_ , Nihlus replied.

"This is a trap. There's no f-f-fucking way this isn't a trap," Raetor managed from between clenched teeth.

"We set it off."

Without waiting for the others, Nihlus took off into the tunnel, ignoring the calls from the others. They caught up with him shortly, scurrying through the darkness; soon the tunnel was moving downwards, the stone walls closing in on them as it began to wind back and forth.

They walked for nearly half an hour until they came to the exit.

A massive cavern lay before them; long, pulsing flesh-metal tendrils of silver-black covered the stone walls, glowing a dull red.

At the centre was a turian-shaped figure, strapped into some sort of glowing machine; from their position at the mouth of the cavern they could hear the turian speaking to himself, his voice strained and splitting and cracked.

"Is submission not preferable to extinction? Shepard, you were a - a - a - a - it isn't, it isn't, I won't submit, I can't help me, Shepard, I can feel it, I can feel it in my head, help me - Desolas, no, you can't, it's - help - the Reapers are too powerful, the Reapers are the visions are the powerful and cannot be denied, don't - too late - Saren, Saren, Saren, my name is Saren, my name is Saren, I am a Council Spectre and a servant of the - NO - NO - end it, end it, end it, please, Shepard, Nihlus, please, please make it stop - Nihlus, Nihlus get out of the way - Nihlus I'm sorry I have to do - Nihlus, Nihlus, Shepard, Saren, my name is Saren-"

"What the _fuck_ is going on here?" Jane whispered. "Is - is that Saren?"

The soldiers crept closer - and several of the marines nearly vomited as Saren came into proper view.

One actually did.

Saren was naked, suspended in the fleshy grasp of the device's pulsating, beating tendrils; they ran in and out of his skin, bored into his skull, came out of his mouth and his left eye.

"Saren," Nihlus growled, his rifle raised slightly. "Saren, can you hear me?"

"-can't smell anymore, can't see anymore, you have to do better than this - FUCK YOU! You think I'm going to break from a tap like that? Well, try me, you li - Councilor Vakarian, I'm sorry to report that I can't - no, no, no, no, no, that's not right, Vakarian, Garrus, Castis, no, - stop it, stop it, STOP IT, PLEASE, I CAN'T - the Alliance can't be trusted, you can't expect the humans - who are you - Shepard? - help-"

"I don't think - I don't think he's here anymore," KN muttered. "We - should we just - you know-"

"I'm - I'm not shooting Saren, you piece of shit - you can save him, right?" Nihlus demanded. "I know you can! I know WE can!"

"Wait - wait - everyone stay cool - Nihlus, we're not going to shoot anyone," Jane interjected, standing between KN and Nihlus. "Okay, let's - let's just think this out - one second, wait, is that - what's that?" She pointed at Saren's right hand - which was clutching at a small disc.

"Oh, _keelah_ , that's - is that Larix's omnitool?" Raetor sputtered. "What the shit?"

"I'm gonna take it." Nihlus reached out - before KN stopped him, a hand on his shoulder.

"Look - let me. If - I don't know what _this_ shit is," KN pointed out, gesturing around the cavern, "but if it's anomalous I have a better chance of getting it without, you know, my mind being turned into paste."

Nihlus breathed.

"Promise. Just let me handle it, okay?"

Nihlus nodded.

"Okay, here goes." KN got as close as he could to the flesh-trap without touching it, stretched out his hand and

* * *

 **FUNCTION READ ERROR**  
 **URGENT URGENT URGENT**

 ** _ERROR CODE: UDC-061_**

 **DELIVER MSG TO MPSD MAILROOM IMMEDIATELY**

Nimue sprinted into the command centre, paper in hand; she ignored the looks from the others, ran straight up to the smartly-dressed turian woman standing at the front of the room and thrust the papers into her hands. "Report, Director, just came in from the Mailroom. We're done."

"Nimue?" the woman asked, her expression darkening as she read the papers.

Silence as the turian woman's eyes flitted back and forth.

"And here I was thinking we'd at least be able to harvest some more out of this one," the woman sighed. She turned around, back turned on the massive full-wall display, and addressed the dozens of workers before her. "Listen up! Folks, we're resetting. We did our best this round, but that's it for this one. Pack it up, carry out any duties you have left. Dismissed."

The command room erupted into furious activity; workers began shutting down their terminals and offloading information onto datasticks. The turian woman nodded approvingly, before leaving the command room and making her way to her office down the hall. She opened the sealed safe beneath her chair and pulled a massive black briefcase out; she set it on her desk, opened it and sighed.

Several minutes later, the most senior of her colleagues came into the room, each bearing datasticks; she took them solemnly, slotting them into reinforced cradles within the briefcase's inner chassis. At last, Nimue came in, bearing the final stick; the woman took it, slotted in its place, then sealed the briefcase.

Nimue smiled at her as she left the office.

The turian woman waited until Nimue was gone, before turning around to face the wall directly opposite her desk; she triple-checked the briefcase's locks, then opened a small slot in the wall, sliding the briefcase inside.

Next, she opened a control panel next to the slot, revealing a complex network of switches, locks and scanners.

"Director Agrissa Kryik, activating final confirmation. Message code, UDC, zero six one. Command, spin up engines."

A complex flurry of switch-throwing and turning of keys.

The lights on the panel lit up green.

She smiled, raised the glass cover on the large black switch at the bottom of the panel, took a deep breath, flipped it


	38. A Word From The Author

Heya folks. MintyFeet here. As you might have noted, the previous chapter ended rather abruptly - this is because _Parallel Processing_ won't be receiving any further updates.

 **However, the story is not over. _Parallel Processing_ 's story continues in a rewrite / reboot, _Parallel Instances_** (which is currently sitting at ~35k words at the time of writing this blurb.) Thanks to the, ah, time-travel shenanigans we've been witnessing, I actually have the luxury of being able to rewrite the story, and keeping it all in continuity. New readers can get into _Parallel Instances_ without prior knowledge - but for you readers who've stuck with this since its inception, you'll have a more informed view of the story and will be able to pick up on details and differences that won't mean as much to newcomers.

So: why am I cancelling _ParaPro_ , and rebooting the story?

Recently, I did a full re-read of _Parallel Processing_ and was horrified to find that much of the story was incredibly inconsistent in terms of details, terminology, tone, narrative flow and general worldbuilding. This can mainly attributed to "early installment weirdness," and more egregiously a serious lack of planning on my part regarding certain details which would become central to the plot and the characters. I won't lie, many of the details which would become critical to the narrative weren't conceived until much later than would have been optimal, and in many cases I had to write myself out of corners, etc.

Far, far more egregiously, there was also not nearly enough planning done in terms of character development. **I challenge any of the readers of _Parallel Processing,_ as an example, to describe characters who were supposed to be important, like, Jane and KN, as "developed" or "fleshed out."** _Parallel Processing_ was billed as a Titanfall / ME crossover, and yet, Nihlus  & company received so much more time and attention that for all the stuff written from their POV, Jane, KN and other Alliance folks are bland and one-dimensional. A lot of narrative details and character development have been re-written for _Parallel Instances_ with the intention of making a more consistent story which flows better - and one which, ultimately, is just more enjoyable to read in the long run.

Thank you very much for reading _Parallel Processing,_ and I hope to see you in _Parallel Instances._

-MintyFeet / Fluoxetine


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